


Not Easy To Be Me

by o0Aisha0o



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League (2017), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Batman's enemies are not impressed, Gen, Green Kryptonite, Hurt Bruce Wayne, I'm using that too, It's much harder than they thought, Justice League tries their luck in Gotham, Kink Meme, Medical Inaccuracies, Mind Control, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Post-Justice League (2017), Prompt Fill, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), a lot of mind control, not too late this time, referencing the Arkham games because they're awesome, remember that ring Clark gave to Bruce?, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-01-23 10:38:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18548107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0Aisha0o/pseuds/o0Aisha0o
Summary: Kink Meme Prompt:"Bruce is laid up, could be illness, could be injury, could be a business trip, up to you. Justice League volunteers to patrol Gotham and figures it'll be a piece of cake if they all do patrol. Cue the League getting a real wake up call into how rough Gotham is and the criminals not being impressed with the Justice League.Bonus points for: 'That's cute, Boy Scout. Where's Batsy? He at least knows how to play.'"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You'll have to forgive the medical bullshit and bad English, I'm no expert in either but, again, I love this fandom and I just can't resist the prompts.
> 
> Title comes from Five for Fighting's "Superman" song (sorry, Supes) if you were wondering.
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Now with extra punctuation and corrections thanks to my lovely beta [Serephent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serephent/pseuds/serephent), who, for whatever reason, decided to help me. Thank you, Ser, what would I do without you?

"What happened, Alfred?" asked Clark, his eyes never leaving the peaceful face of Batman, Bruce, resting on the bed in front of him.  
"An encounter with Scarecrow and an unknown ally of his. It seems to be a variation of his fear toxin; powerful enough to kill a person in a minute, sometimes even less than that," replied the butler, checking the readings of the few machines attached to Bruce's body and acting as if this was just another boring weekday. It probably was "Master Bruce had been in the middle of stopping the plans of the criminal to use his new creation on the people of Gotham, using perfumes as his way to distribute the chemical without being discovered.”  
  
“I guess the ‘not discovered part’ didn’t work out, huh?”  
  
“You’d be correct. Master Bruce succeeded in frustrating his plans, but he received a high dose of the chemical in the process, while he was trying to protect the goons helping Scarecrow from being poisoned when Crane decided to block the gates and use his gas to try and kill the master. It was a dose high enough that he should've died instantly but you know Master Bruce, he is too stubborn to die, especially for something like this."  
  
"Was the fear toxin what put him to sleep?" asked Diana, looking composed, but the slightly strained tone of her voice made it clear she was worried and angry.  
  
"No, that would be Dr. Thompkins’ doing. She thought that maintaining him in an induced coma, and heavily sedated would be the best chance he'd have. This way his heart won't overexert itself, or fail, and his mind will remain healthy. Well, it won't be left any worse than it already was," said Alfred. The amazon could hear the slightly amused inflection to his voice. Mr. Pennyworth really was just too used to these situations to sound too worried anymore.  
  
"When will he wake up?" asked Barry, who had taken the chair on the left side of Bruce's bed. He had grasped the big hand of the billionaire in his and hadn't let go once.  
  
"Dr. Thompkins doesn't really know how long it will take his body to get rid of the toxin, since it seems Dr. Crane designed it to remain in the bloodstream much longer than his original concoction. The sedatives Won't help his body in that regard, and the antitoxin to counteract this modified formula was only halfway finished when Master Bruce confronted Crane, so she is reluctant to speculate. But, and I'm quoting her here> "if she had to say how long it will take, she says it could be at least two weeks or maybe even a month or a month and a half in the worst-case scenario"  
  
"A month??" half yelled Victor, lowering his gaze to the floor, obviously devastated by the bad news "Why didn't you call us, Bruce?"  
  
"Actually, I'm glad you mentioned the master's foolishness, because I have something I must show you. If you would be so kind to follow me to the cave?" asked Alfred, already holding the door open.  
  
Everyone nodded, although Barry still hesitated on letting go of Bruce's hand, before he too followed in silence. They walked across the newly reconstructed Wayne Manor, went through the entrance behind the old clock, and down the stairs until they all stood right in front of the huge monitors. The screens remained active, displaying maps, faces, records, progress on several chemical analysis and security camera feeds, even though the person who used them was lying unconscious several levels above.  
  
Alfred started searching for something in the computer, the sounds of the keyboard echoing around them while the rest of the heroes looked at each other in confusion. Finally, the monitors went black seconds before Bruce's tired face appeared on the screen. They all froze, their full attention focused on the giant screen that showed what was obviously a video.  
  
The Bruce in the recording seemed to be in great pain, barely able to keep himself in a sitting position and looked hesitant to start talking. That frown he always got on his face when he was about to do or say something he clearly was not comfortable with etched firmly on his brow. Sighing deeply, apparently deciding to get over with whatever this was already, he looked directly to the camera and started talking with a determined voice.  
  
_"I know it'll sound cliché but… if you're watching this then what happened with Crane was as serious as I thought it was, and it will render me incapacitated to function for an extended period of time. That means my duty as the strategist for the League will have to fall on someone else’s shoulders. So, I designed strategies based on the enemies we've encountered, both individually and as a team, that will be helpful to whoever you choose to replace me in the meantime. Alfred will make sure you get them. And..."_  
  
“Wait, this was taken right after the fight?” asked Barry, eyes wide in horror. “What the hell was he thinking? He should’ve been worrying about getting medical attention!”  
  
Alfred pause the video, smiling sadly at the young man.  
  
“He was, but he knew he didn’t have much time before the unfinished antidote lost its meager effect, and he needed to be sedated, so he started recording this as soon as the liquid entered his veins.”  
  
_“Bruce, we need to start now, it’s starting to affect your heart rate again!”_ A woman’s voice full of urgency could be heard in the background  
  
_“Leslie, please…”_ a loud sigh was heard, but no more protests came from the woman and Bruce returned his attention to the camera. Again, that hesitation, and he seemed to grit his teeth and convince himself to keep talking.  
  
_"I ask you this as a friend: please, take care of Gotham while I'm incapacitated. I wouldn't... I wouldn't be asking this if it wasn't absolutely necessary, so please watch over Gotham until I recover.”_ His frown deepened, the lines on his forehead giving away how much it cost him to ask for help.  
_“But please, please, be very careful. The criminals here are nothing like you've ever encountered, and I never prepared you to face them, so you'll be especially susceptible to their attacks. Have special precaution with the Joker, he may not look like much, but underestimating him would be a grave mistake. One you *do not* want to make. I'm sorry to have to ask this of you but I have no choice. I thank you in advance and I need to repeat this: **please be cautious with Gotham's criminals.**_  
  
_If you're going to patrol, do it in pairs. *Never* patrol alone, and keep Alfred on your comms at all times. He'll know what to do if you have any difficulty or if you're dosed with any of the toxins, spores or chemicals most of them use. Stay safe until I can take charge again, especially you, Barry."_  
  
The young man felt both teary eyed and offended by the worried growl the man directed at him.  
  
_"I... thank you again for taking care of my city if you decide to take on the task."_  
  
Batman's hands flew towards his head, he clutched it tightly while an agonized scream was ripped from his throat and a panicked ‘Master Bruce!’ could be heard off screen before the video ended abruptly, leaving the whole League rooted to their spots.  
  
"He is so dramatic," said Arthur, snorting derisively after a long, tense moment. "It's not like these morons are aliens with super powerful weapons that could destroy the whole planet. It's just a bunch of lunatics dressed in Halloween costumes thinking they're big shots. Wayne should just relax and let us get rid of them so he can be less cranky."  
  
"Interesting choice of words, Arthur, since some of our detractors call us lunatics dressed as clowns as well. Would you not take us seriously?" said Diana, making the Atlantean frown.  
  
"Don't tell me you agree with him. These are regular humans, nothing just one of us can't handle. There's no need for the whole group to stay here. Hell, I'll stay here and you can go back to your houses and boring jobs while I show Bats how it’s done."  
  
"Shouldn't we listen to what he said?" commented Victor, a frown of his own marring his brow. "He is the one who's been protecting this city for years. He has been Batman, a hero, for much longer than most of us, except Diana."  
  
"Are you serious?" retorted Arthur, cocking an eyebrow in incredulity. "Of fucking course you are. You and the Batman fangirl back there where the ones that where star struck enough to go and rob a grave for him. Why am I even surprised you cling to every word as if it’s gospel?"  
  
The young hero gave a quick look towards Barry, who didn’t say a word. With suppressed a growl he crossed his arms in what was clearly a way to stop himself from strangling the other man.  
  
"Are you really that scared of a guy with a coin and a retard who looks like a penguin? _Fuck's sake, Cyborg."_  
  
Barry stayed uncharacteristically silent, looking lost, and maybe a bit too affected by Bruce’s condition, and Aquaman’s harsh comments.  
  
“I’m just saying he left that video for a reason. You saw his face, that was not his pride talking. He was worried, for _us._ ”  
  
“And I suppose that’s why he didn’t call us? None of this would’ve happened if he’d just asked the League, **his team** , for assistance. But oh no, the Big Bad Bat can’t do that. It’s not like we defeated Steppenwolf or anything.”  
  
“You mean the Steppenwolf that was kicking our asses until Superman showed up and slapped _him_ into next Thursday?” retorted Victor, letting his arms fall to his sides, the metal of his fingers groaning slightly when he curled them into tight fists.  
  
“T-That’s not true, guys, come on” intervened the Kryptonian, a little bit of his bumbling Clark Kent persona slipping through due to nerves and the tense atmosphere.  
  
“Yes, it is, and bringing him back with the help of the ship and the Mother Box was a plan BATMAN came up with. One that YOU, Arthur, dismissed absolutely just like you’re doing RIGHT.NOW.” Victor punctuated every word with a step so that he ended up standing right in front of Arthur, invading his personal space and snarling slightly. Diana shifted awkwardly in her place, looking at Clark then averting her gaze when the Kryptonian met her eyes, both accusations clearly affecting her even if they were not directed at her.  
  
“Excuse me for believing that fucking around with death and alien technology we can’t even hope to understand, let alone control, was as bad an idea as not trusting your friends when you’re dealing with a dangerous situation, kid. If he wakes up, I’ll kiss his boots and beg for forgiveness.”  
  
“So now you’re his friend?”  
  
“Apparently not since he doesn’t seem to trust me enough to call me, or you, when he’s being pummeled into Batpaste. So why don’t you wake up from that man crush of yours and accept Wayne cares as much about me as he does about everyone else in this group?”  
  
“That’s enough, Arthur, Victor” said Clark, separating the murderous looking men and struggling not to say something that would make the situation escalate pointlessly. Not when one of their friends was fighting for his life and needed them to be a team "I don't see how this will help Bruce or his city, in any way"  
  
The Atlantean sighed deeply, turned around to hide his face from view and massaged the nape of his neck.  
  
“I’m sorry. Stupid Wayne has me, uh…”  
  
“Worried” said Diana, smiling softly.  
  
“Yeah, that. I apologize for all that, Vic.” The younger male stared at him for a few moments then relaxed visibly and just shrugged “Barry” the kid looked at him shyly and nodded slightly.  
  
"Although you are right, the whole team cannot be committed to one city and we all have obligations somewhere else. Since you were so kind to volunteer to stay and take care of the city and check on Bruce, I'll hold you to your word.” Said Diana, looking at her team. “You'll patrol the city this week, Barry has the next week, I will take the third week and Clark will take charge after me. Victor will take his place the fifth week. Hopefully, Bruce will have recovered by then, and a second round won’t be necessary.”  
  
“If I may be so bold, Ms. Prince” said Alfred who had, up to this point, stayed silent. “Master Bruce is, as Mr. Curry has so accurately pointed out, rather dramatic, but he is right in this instance and I implore you to listen to his recommendations. These are, in fact, not normal human beings, and treating them as such would be foolish.”  
  
“I know you and Bruce have had a rough time dealing with all of this on your own, and I commend Bruce for keeping his city safe without the advantages that the rest of us possess,” replied Diana, squeezing the old man’s shoulder gently, “but we all are seasoned fighters and perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves, and this city, without help.”  
  
Alfred sighed with the resignation of a man that is, most often than not, completely ignored.  
“Will you at least keep in touch with each other? Promise me you won’t make the same mistake Master Bruce made and you will call for help if you need it.”  
  
“We will and you will be on the comms of whoever’s patrolling at the time, Alfred,” said Clark, smiling reassuringly. “You’re the only one who knows this city and what goes on in it, almost as well as Bruce, and we will need your assistance.” This seemed to appease the butler.  
  
“Okay, get lost and don’t come back ‘til it’s your turn to die of boredom in this place.” said Arthur. Everyone said goodbye, leaving the Atlantean and Alfred alone in the cave.  
“Care for dinner, Mr. Curry?”  
  
“Nah. Why don’t we make sure Bats is still taking his beauty sleep, and then you can show me the toys so I can start doing his job? I think AquaBat is kinda neat, you like it?”  
  
Alfred just shook his head, unable to stop his smile, feeling the worry in his chest lessen a bit knowing that Bruce now had good, caring friends, willing to help him in his darkest hour. And, dear Lord, did he need that.


	2. SUPERMAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3am posting is fun

Clark truly wished he could concentrate, he did have to earn his paycheck, even if Bruce had bought the Planet and discreetly added him back to the staff. He had reluctantly agreed and only because the man wouldn’t accept a no for an answer. And, honestly, he liked his job and was grateful to Bruce for giving him this piece of normalcy back in the chaos that was his life after his sudden death, and surprising return.  
  
“Is everything alright?” Lois’ soft voice still managed to startle him enough to send the pen in his hand to the other side of the room, where a confused looking employee massaged his head and picked it up from the floor, looking around to see who’d lost the offending object. Clark looked away and took another pen from one of his drawers.  
  
“I’m fine, Lo."  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You look tired, did something bad happen? Is your mother fine?”  
  
“Ma’s fine, thanks for asking”  
  
“Nothing to do with, uh, you know…” She gestured vaguely toward his chest.  
  
“Oh! No, everything’s alright. I’m feeling fine, really.”  
  
Her eyes told him how she really didn’t believe that based on his appearance, but then her expression changed as she seemed to realize something.  
  
“Is it one of your new friends?” Clark felt a spark of surprise at the comment, then he remembered who he was talking to, and huffed softly.  
  
She seemed to think a bit before talking again.  
  
“According to gossip, Bruce Wayne started a month-long vacation throughout Europe and they say it could be longer than that” she said, looking directly into Clark's eyes.  
  
“Yeah, I have it on good authority that he’s not coming back any time soon.” answered Clark, unable to hold her gaze, actually feeling a little burnt out. He admired Alfred’s ability to deal with Bruce’s shit and not going nuts in the process.  
  
“I’m guessing it wasn’t planned”  
  
“No, not really. It was a spur of the moment thing; you know how he is. He must be lying down right now, sleeping fitfully while we work our asses off.”  
  
Lois’ eyes softened, understanding what Clark meant perfectly, though the rest of her face didn’t give away the worry and sympathy she clearly felt at the moment. She rubbed his back briefly and squeezed his hand in support.  
  
“He’ll come back soon and the only thing he’ll bring back with him will be a terrible hangover from all the partying.”  
  
He smiled softly, about to thank her for trying to cheer him up when another faint, more distant sound, caught his attention.  
  
_“Mr. Kent? Are you too busy?”_ The deceivingly calm voice of the man worried Clark, much more so for the fact that he didn’t use the comms, or the secure line Bruce had given to each member of the team in case they had an emergency, but had chosen to talk loudly, hoping he would be heard.  
  
It worried him enough that he excused himself, and quickly ran to the roof  
of the Planet, making sure no one was nearby to listen to his conversation, absently concentrating on finding Bruce’s heartbeat. He tried using his phone, but it was dead and so was his communicator.  
  
“Victor? Can you hear me?”  
  
_“Yes, Superman, what’s going on? Is there a problem?”_  
  
“I don’t know. Al just contacted me but didn’t use the phone or the comm so I’ll assume someone’s jamming the signal and it’s confined to Gotham. I’ll go and see what he needs and make sure everything’s alright” Victor didn’t answer right away, then replied a moment later in a worried tone.  
  
_“Seems there was a problem with a ship in Gotham’s Docks but even the GCPD’s network is failing. It’s giving me a bad feeling. I’m gonna try and see what I can do to open the lines, again and will contact Diana. I don't like this”_  
  
“Concentrate on the comms. If even you are having trouble then what we’re dealing with must be some kind of alien technology.”  
  
_“Yes, Superman.”_ said Victor and the line went silent again.  
  
With his insides churning with apprehension, and his unfamiliarity to the rhythm of Bruce’s heart rendering his efforts useless, he made his way back to the office, already thinking of what he’d tell Perry to let him go at this hour. Maybe if he told him his mom had called and, that it was an emergency, he’d be merciful and would consider not firing him.  
  
“Perry?”  
  
“What do you want, Kent?” Clark flinched, it was one of _those_ days, he could tell just from the tone of the answer, and he prayed he could leave the place alive.  
  
“I need…” he was interrupted by Perry’s phone ringing and the man gestured for him to wait while he answered. His surprised eyes quickly locked on him and with a curt ‘Yes, sir, he’ll be there as soon as possible’ he hung up.  
  
“You’re leaving, Kent. Wayne’s butler just called. He needs you in Wayne Manor right now. What are you doing? Stop daydreaming and move!”  
  
Clark snapped out of his surprise, amazed by Alfred’s ingenuity, and practically flew down the stairs and into the alley on the side of the building. Shedding his clothes, he flew as fast as he could to Wayne Manor and into the cave.  
  
“That was pure genius, Alfred. Thanks for helping me out.”  
  
“Master Bruce would be appalled to learn you lost your job because of him, even if he could solve the problem, so it was the least I could do.”  
  
“So what’s wrong, Alfred? Did something happen to him?”  
  
“Goodness, no, the master’s condition hasn’t changed much since yesterday afternoon. It is Mr. Curry I’m concerned about.”  
  
“What are you talking about, Alfred?”  
  
“Mr. Curry went out to patrol an hour and a half after the rest of the League left, but his communicator went silent just two hours before he was supposed to return to the cave, sir. I tried to reach him on several occasions to no avail and, although I worried, I could see his signal still moving so I thought he was alright and on his way to his last stop for the night.”  
  
“That was six hours ago.”  
  
“Yes, and I tried to locate his position through the transmitter in his comm. It seems to have been destroyed. I’ve been trying to contact the rest of the team since then, but something is interfering with our communications. I contacted Mr. Fox to ask for his assistance with our lines. He’s been having trouble reestablishing them, even with Waynetech’s resources. Everything was calm so I hoped I would be able to contact Mr. Curry, or at least know his whereabouts before something terrible happened. That was until fifteen minutes ago.”  
  
“The ship?”  
  
“Yes, sir. How did you know?”  
  
“I talked to Victor before coming here, he told me about the ship but couldn’t get much more information than that, it seems even the police are having trouble with their network”  
  
“Well, there was a report of a missing ship. It was scheduled to depart from Gotham Docks at 4:30 a.m., but it never left.”  
  
“What was it transporting?”  
  
“A very volatile, very expensive, and hard to obtain experimental compound; used as the base for Scarecrow’s new fear toxin. The cargo belonged to Wayne Enterprises.”  
  
“So it was just bait, to try and lure the super criminal out and capture him.”  
  
“Master Bruce had planned this three days before the incident. He never imagined he would be tipped on Scarecrow’s location before his plan could come to fruition, and that it would render him unable to see it through.”  
  
“And Arthur decided to go on his own.”  
  
“I begged him to wait for assistance but he wouldn’t listen.”  
Of course he wouldn’t, thought Clark, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the stubbornness of the other man. Honestly, he and Bruce should be best friends by now, seeing how alike they both were.  
  
“So you think Aquaman is responsible?”  
  
“I think there’s a significant number of criminals in Gotham that use brain washing or mind control as part of their tactics. It's not so out of the realm of possibility that he was captured by one of them, namely Crane.” Clark nodded then massaged his eyes, angry at the thought of two of his friends falling victims to the same man.  
  
“Have you had any luck with the comms?”  
  
“Mr. Fox made some progress but they’re still fairly unreliable, let’s pray luck is on our side”  
  
“The interference is localized. Vic and I think there’s alien technology involved. Hopefully, I’m wrong and it’s not Kryptonian.”  
  
“Let’s hope, although it does sound like something the criminals of this city would do, sir.”  
  
“I’ll go to the docks to take a look, stay with me on the comms, alright?”  
  
“I’ll be right here, Superman.”  
  
The alien nodded and flew out of the cave, making his way quickly to the docks. When he arrived, there was a man with white hair in a long brown coat, standing near the edge of the dock smoking and looking out into the distance, lost in thought. Three police cars were parked behind him, their occupants busy writing down statements from shocked witnesses, and trying to figure out what had happened. The Kryptonian recalled Bruce talking about a police officer that had been pivotal to Batman’s career, one of the few people he seemed to trust with his life.  
  
“Al?”  
  
_“Yes, Superman?”_  
  
“Is Commissioner Gordon a tall man with glasses who smokes?”  
  
_“Other than the smoking, you would be correct. His wife will be disapp-”_  
  
“Al? Alfred? Al, can you hear me?” He gave up after a few minutes of silence. Alfred _had_ said communication was still dodgy. He sighed and decided it was not such a bad idea to say hi.  
  
“Commissioner Gordon,” said Clark, flying slowly until he was hovering over the water right in front of him. The Commissioner looked slightly stunned, then regained his composure and nodded in acknowledgement.  
  
“We never got a chance to meet, you were not with the group when I got introduced to them before that alien guy decided to invade Earth.”  
  
“Yes, well, I was a little dead at the time” Gordon snorted and shook his head.  
  
“Funny. I can see why you’re such good friends with him”  
  
Clark smiled at that.  
  
“I’m Kal El. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Batman said we could trust you.”  
  
“So, he talked to you about me? That’s a little surprising. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. I don’t want him to kill an innocent young man.”  
  
Clark couldn’t help himself, he chuckled. He wished he could keep the light conversation going, ask about their relationship, but there were far more pressing issues to be discussed.  
  
“I suppose you’re here because the rumors about his bout with Crane are true and you’re his replacement”  
  
“I suppose you’re here because of the ship that disappeared” said Clark, hoping he could get useful information from the commissioner.  
  
Gordon sighed, recognizing an affirmation when he heard one.  
  
“Is he alright?”  
  
“He’ll survive. We hope.”  
  
The older man nodded, worry filling his gaze for a second before he remembered why they both were there, and straightened his posture, authority and confidence replacing the weariness from before.  
  
“Fifteen minutes ago, we received a call from one of the panicked workers from the ship that managed to reach the docks before it disappeared under the water. He said something like a giant whirlpool started surrounding the ship, and in a matter of seconds, sucked it under the surface. There’s no trace of it or its cargo but all the crew members were able to escape.”  
  
“Did any of them see anything unusual?"  
  
“Other than a sinking ship that’s sinking that has no reason to be?”  
  
“I was thinking more like a man in the water that can control the currents and looks like a homeless guy with a pitchfork.”  
  
“No, nothing of the sort.” Gordon looked at him, his piercing gaze making  
Clark want to shift in his place, it reminded him so much of Bruce it was uncanny. “So is this man a friend of yours? I don’t think there was anyone like that either at our little rooftop party.”  
  
“He’s part of the Justice League, yes. He was the one in charge of replacing Batman for the week. We lost contact with him six hours ago and have been unable to locate him since.”  
  
“The ship belonged to Wayne Enterprises, it was transporting a very specific chemical, one that Batman found in Scarecrow’s new cocktail. Is there anything I should know about?” Those sharp eyes seemed to be searching for something and Clark almost panicked. Did this man know Batman’s identity? Had **he** just given it away? He wished he could reach Alfred so he could help him solve this problem.  
  
“I…”  
  
“I haven’t told anyone about this. I was hoping he would come, but I can see he won’t, not in a while, so I’ll be happy to help all of you as much as I can.” The message was loud and clear: yes I do and his secret is safe with me.  
  
“We think Scarecrow has him and I hope I can stop whatever scheme he has before he has a chance to cause any more trouble.”  
  
“Then let’s hope you find your friend soon. I shiver just thinking about what that lunatic could do to this city with that much power in his hands.”  
  
The kryptonian nodded, taking that as his cue to start his search.  
  
Clark combed the entire place, even submerging himself in the murky waters, trying to find a sign that his friend had been there at all. Something that only he could find, and the police had missed in their initial search; all to no avail. He resurfaced and hovered over the water, widening his range of hearing, searching in an ocean of sounds to try and find anything that could lead him to Arthur.  
  
_“Superman, did you find something, sir?”_ Alfred’s voice startled him out of his reverie. The device in his ear had been silent for so long that he forgot for a moment it was even there.  
  
“Nothing yet, Al. I’m trying with my hearing, maybe I can catch something.”  
  
_“I’m sorry, sir, I interrupted you in-”_ Silence replaced the man’s smooth voice suddenly, and Clark frowned. Even with the powerful Waynetech satellites at their disposal, they could not rely on their comms.  
  
“Al, can you hear me?”

  _“Sorry, for that, sir. It seems I lost you again and interrupted you in such a delicate task.”_  
  
“It’s alright, you’re doing everything you can to keep the communicators functional. You’re not used to anything like this, and, to be honest, I kinda forgot you were there too.”  
  
The sheepish tone made the old butler chuckle softly.  
  
_“So there were no traces of the ship anywhere?”_  
  
“No, not here in the docks or underwater. It’s as if it vanished into…”  
  
“No, release me! Help! Help me!!” The desperate screams made him jump and the next moment he was floating in front of a tall building, looking at a man dressed in a purple suit with clown make up on his face and green, wild looking hair.  
  
A terrified blonde woman was standing behind him on the edge of the rooftop, ankles and wrists tied and a strange, blinking device locked around her neck. Clark guessed it was something that would make her lose her head if it was activated. He wondered if he could get rid of it before that happened.  
  
_“Superman? What is happening, sir? Are you alright?”_  
  
“I’m fine. I think I found the Joker.”  
  
_“Goodness, he must have been waiting for Batman! Please, let me try and contact Ms. Prince. You must not engage with him on your own!”_  
  
“I can’t wait, Alfred! We’re not sure our call will reach her and he’s got a hostage, and I think he put a bomb on her neck.”  
  
_“Oh, Lord. Please, at least make sure his second in command is somewhere visible. She is just as dangerous as the man himself and-”_  
  
“Don’t worry, Al, I got this” He whispered after the man on the other side of the communicator was cut abruptly mid loud protest. Part of Clark was grateful for the interruption, vaguely thinking that, when he was finished with all this mess, he’d compensate Alfred for worrying him.  
  
“Oh… you’re not Bats! What’s the primary colored Boy Scout doing in our lovely Gotham city? Metropolis not doing it for you anymore?”  
  
“So you’re the famous Joker. I wish I could say this is an honor but I don’t like lying.”  
  
“Oh, that’s just cruel! Here I was, glad to meet the man that almost made Batsy take that one last step and become one of us and you got your red super panties in a bunch already.”  
  
“How did you…?” asked Clark, shocked that this man knew what had happened between him and the Batman before Doomsday forced them to work together.  
  
“You know criminals, they’re worse than women when it comes to gossip! Never mind that, I do have a grudge. You see, I’ve spent years upon years trying to break Batman, doing everything I could think of to make him take a life, to turn him into the monster he’s always been afraid of becoming.  
  
I’ve made it my mission to destroy him in every way possible and I was so close, _so close_ to achieving it! He’d even started using that brand of his. That was a work of art! Not even I could’ve imagined doing something so cruel. Alright, I could, but, still!”  
  
Clark didn’t want to hear another word from the maniac. He knew what he’d done to Bruce, even if the man had never wanted to tell them the whole story, the encased costume made for someone much less bulkier than Batman and the mocking words sprayed all over it in colors the man in front of him would use spoke loud enough, no Investigative Reporter talent needed.  
  
“Are you always this talkative? No wonder Batman beats you so easily. You're giving him way too much time to think up ways f stopping you”  
  
“Manners, manners! I’m not done talking, Supermoron.”  
  
“I’m not interested in listening to-!”  
  
The sound of the bomb on the girl’s neck activating, and the choked scream that it ripped from her throat, promptly made him shut his mouth. Joker stopped the bomb and laughed, clutching his stomach, and Clark felt he’d never hated someone this much in his entire life.  
  
“I knew you were hooked! Now, where was I? Oh yes, Bats. So, I did everything to make him go bananas, and it was actually starting to work! Sure, the city contributed to his slow descent, but it was me who did most of the work. Slowly but surely, I eroded his sanity, his iron, will until he was just as bitter and ruthless as the criminals he fought. He was ready to take that last step… but you, you appeared and almost took that away from me! It was me he was supposed to kill. It was me he was supposed to look in the eye and realize what he’d don. The perfect punch line to my biggest joke! But he was so obsessed with you he didn’t care about anything else.  
  
Then, you truly ruined it. After he started going out with all of you fools in spandex, my work been all but destroyed! All my effort has almost vanished and it’s all your fault, with your stupid shiny smiles and sunny attitude. So now, I’ll make you pay, this bitch’s life will be taken and it’ll be all on you. Let’s see if Bats can come back from this!”  
  
The Kryptonian growled, furious beyond belief. He launched himself quickly, grabbing the lanky arm to keep Joker still, while he punched one or two rotten teeth out of that foul mouth when a loud, booming sound stopped him. He froze, checking to make sure the woman was still alive, then realized it was an explosion at some distant point of the city, followed by a cacophony of screams and absolute chaos.  
  
“Getting physical on our first date? Big no no, Supes! You should leave second base for later, you naughty, naughty, boy.” Joker opened his jacket slightly, revealing a series of sensors connected all over his body. “You better back off, old boy, or the sparks of our encounter will spread all across Gotham!”  
  
At least 7 bombs, and Clark realized he’d activated one when he gripped his arm. He growled, thinking that his throat had no sensor around it, and relishing the thought of squeezing hard enough to wipe that stupid smile off of that ugly face. Before he could do just that, the clown got something from his pocket. Something Clark recognized all too well.  
  
A small chunk of kryptonite was shoved in his face and Clark could feel his head spin and his legs tremble under his weight while he tried to put some distance between him and the rock. Where had he gotten that thing from? He thought Bruce and Luthor were the only ones with access to the mineral.  
  
“How did y-you-?”  
  
“Oh, remember what I told you about criminals and their gossip? My new friend, Lexy, told me his tragic tale, in which he lost to you two miserably and said such a fascinating thing about this pretty glowing pebble that could weaken you, most certainly *kill* you, and I couldn’t resist! A few calls here, a murder there and voilà! Oh and our beautiful flower back there has more of the good stuff on her, just in case you wanted to get her number HAHAHAHAHA!”  
  
Clark gained enough distance that the radiation didn’t make him feel like  
he was about to faint but now he definitely couldn’t get near Joker, much less stop him from detonating the bombs or rescue the woman. He regretted being glad for having lost communication with Alfred.  
  
“I gotta ask, you **really** thought it’d be that easy? That’s cute, Boy Scout” He looked around as if searching for someone “Where’s Batsy? He at least knows how to play.”  
  
“You should be less concerned about the guy that’s not here, and focus more on the guy with super speed that’s in front of you!”  
  
“What are you gonna do, roadrunner, make the rest of the bombs go off faster? Oh! You don’t know! Let me explain. I can activate the movement sensors integrated on this beauty, make them so sensitive that even your super speed triggers them! That would be real funny to see! Meep meep BOOM!”  
  
Joker laughed again, bending backwards and Clark’s frustration grew tenfold, he wanted to take the guy and throw him into the sun.  
  
“Now, where’s the Bat, you and your ‘super powers’ bore me to tears.”  
  
Clark thought about Bruce, lying unconscious in the manor, trying his best to survive and couldn’t suppress a low growl. Realization dawned on the green haired man, surprising Clark with his sharpness.  
  
“Oh, so what those useless goons working for Scarecrow said was true, the pile of hay got him good this time.”  
  
Instead of the gleeful expression he was expecting, the Joker’s face turned somber and a look passed through his eyes that made Clark shiver.  
  
”Here I am, doing all of this to get his attention and he’s sleeping upside down on that stupid cave of his!”  
  
“Release the girl and deactivate the bombs, Joker! Now!”  
  
Joker pinned him with his gaze, slowly letting his smile grow to it’s unnerving size and bowed with a flourish.  
  
“Your wish is my command.” He walked towards the captive girl, and as he was finished speaking, kicking her off the roof. Her scream of horror at the sudden fall bouncing off the walls of the nearby building.  
  
Clark was fast to catch her but, in doing so, he not only confirmed she had kryptonite on her body, he also activated the device on her neck and time seemed to stop. The Kryptonian could imagine it all, his super fast brain allowing him to see in his mind’s eye her head being separated from her body, splattering blood and flesh all over him, leaving him with nothing but a string less puppet in his arms. He regretted not listening to Alfred, to Bruce, to Victor, and his lack of planing. Thinking that Gotham was anything like Smallville. Anything like Metropolis.  
  
He closed his eyes and flinched when something hit his face, but he immediately opened them when the girl moved, surounded by glittering confetti and little streamers, and giggled.  
  
“W-What...?”  
  
“My hero!”  
  
The next thing he knew, he was being kissed by what should’ve been a corpse. The woman’s face had lost the terrified expression from moments before, replaced by a horrifying imitation of a smile, identical to Joker’s own. Clark was so shocked by everything and weakened from the prolonged exposure to the Kryptonite, that he couldn’t even struggle to make her stop.  
  
“What did you do?” He looked at her crazed eyes with fear gripping his heart.  
  
“Shhh, be a good boy and be silent,” said the woman, her finger over his lips in a hushing gesture.  
  
Clark tried to stop her, tried to hold her as far away from his body as he possibly could, tried to _move_ at all, but found he couldn’t. She’d done something to him when she kissed him and now, Clark was trapped inside his own body.  
  
She whispered a command in his ear and, to his horror, his body obeyed, floating slowly toward the roof of the building and only stopping when he was right in front of the other criminal.  
  
“It worked, Mr. J!” shrieked the woman, skipping happily towards the Joker and wrapping her arms around his neck. Joker patted her head as if she was a dog, but didn’t reciprocate the embrace. He took both pieces of kryptonite and hid them in his pocket, reducing the radiation, and making Clark breath  
in relief.  
  
“Good girl , Harley! That plant friend of yours is not so useless, after all. Of course, using that mind controlling lipstick after weakening him with that nice glowing green rock was pure genius.”  
  
“Oh, Mr. J, you’re brilliant! How did you know Supes would be here though?”  
  
“Funny thing is, I didn’t! I planned on visiting Metropolis after I’d dealt with the Bat so he would keep his pointy, annoying nose out of my business! Isn’t that the best punchline, Harley?”  
  
They both laughed and Joker started deactivating the detonator, dropping it to the floor to Clark’s surprise.  
  
“What are you doing, puddin’?”  
  
“What’s the point of destroying the city if Bats is not here to see it? I’ll save the fireworks for his rise from the grave.”  
  
“But, Mr. J! This is the perfect time to take the city without that B-man  
ruining it! Shouldn’t we-”  
  
She couldn’t finish the sentence, as Joker quickly held her face in a bone crushing grip.  
  
“I can take over this city **whenever I want** , Batman or no Batman. But I want him to see how I reduce it to ruins and make every single person fall to their knees in reverence and fear, then I will kill him. And I don’t appreciate you questioning my plans, so better keep your stupid thoughts to yourself, understood?”  
  
Harley could barely nod, falling down like a ragdoll when the hand that kept her on her tiptoes suddenly released her without giving her time to find her footing.  
  
Clark was an unwilling witness to the whole scene, fighting to make himself move and stop the Joker, to escape, anything but all he could manage was a small grunt. That earned him a soft pat on the cheek.  
  
“Come now, Supes! Relax! Yes, you screwed up big time and let yourself fall into my hands. Batsy will be disappointed to be sure, but it’ll seem like a slight headache when he sees what I’ve planned for you! You should thank me for that.” That chilling laugh resonated throughout his brain and Clark wished he could make it stop.  
  
“What will you do with your new toy, Mr. J?”  
  
“Harley, it’s a surprise! You’ll have to wait ‘til Christmas like a good girl. Until then, we must visit Dr. Crane and congratulate him on this achievement.”  
  
“Oh, puddin’, you’re so considerate!”  
  
“I know, Harley, my dear. Let’s go, my friends! We must not miss our appointment!”  
  
Clark followed the pair against his will. In his ear, Alfred finally managed to reestablish communication and begged him on the other side of the line to respond, and talking to someone, most likely to the rest of the League, to please hurry and help him.  
  
He silently apologized to Alfred for not listening to him, and to Bruce for failing to keep his promise, and even endangering his city further by falling under his greatest enemy’s control. With Arthur most likely under Crane’s command, he didn’t want to imagine what would happen to Gotham with both superhumans compromised, and wished he wasn’t about to find out.  
  
Joker was right, Batman would be very disappointed.


	3. AQUAMAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third part of this fic nobody asked for. But hey! we get Aquaman this time! Yay!

He felt exhausted, both mentally and physically… at least, the part of his brain that remained intact. That still resisted Scarecrow’s mind control, felt drained. It wouldn’t last, though, that horrible gas made all rational thought evaporate in seconds, and only pure fear remained.

“Ah yes, it seems you’ve come back to your senses, my dear friend.”

“Get that pile of brainless muscles up and let’s start our plan now, Crane.”

“It’s such a terrible shame that I must endure this partnership in order to continue my beautiful work.”

“I’m not jumping around in joy here, Scarecrow, but this business is too good to pass up, so we both will have suck it up.”

“I suppose that’s the one thing we can agree on.”

Arthur wanted to roll his eyes. He would’ve if he could, but his body had been conditioned for the last several hours to obey only Scarecrow’s command. All he could do was stay still until he received another order, and it was _killing_ him, having to obey that asshole without hesitation.

Everything had been alright, he was almost finished with his patrol for the night, the first one in what was surely going to be a boring week. The only remaining stop in his route was the Gotham Docks. A big shipment of some weird chemical was being sent to nowhere, just so the moron who’d almost killed Bruce would come crawling out of his filthy hideout.

Alfred had explained the plan. Bruce had set this all up before confronting Scarecrow and that the chemical was still being shipped out of Gotham in hopes of keeping it away from the criminal’s hands. Alfred had been so busy with Bruce’s health and all the measures he’d had to take to make sure he’d survive, that by the time he remembered about the ship, he was unable to call off the whole operation.

Arthur wasn’t gonna let this opportunity go to waste. It was very unlikely that Scarecrow would stay away from the scene with such a golden chance, and that would only endanger the crew, if even Batman had had fallen victim to his tricks.

And, even though he’d never admit it to Bruce’s face, he wanted to destroy this son of a bitch for hurting one of his friends. Crane was gonna take a long vacation on the nearest hospital, he would make sure of that.

So his plan was the original plan, sans help from Alfred, as something had started interfering with communications pretty much everywhere. At least that’s what he could gather from the people on the streets, and their frustrated ranting about their cellphones not working properly. No matter, as he told the rest of his friends, he’d be more than enough to keep Gotham under control until the kid could replace him.

(Not that Alfred wanted to help him, he was completely against it. So, thanks, faulty Gotham communications)

How had everything gone so absolutely wrong? He’d seen the asshole try to board the ship and he wasn’t alone. That ugly bastard who called himself the Penguin was with him and Arthur had smirked, glad that he could get rid of two birds with one stone and already planning how to rub this on the Bat’s face.

“Now, Mr. Curry, we need to move, our time is sadly limited.”

Arthur growled, wondering how the creep got a hold of his surface name, and willed his body to move at his command. It actually worked. Slowly but surely, his muscles started moving when he ordered them to. His anger did wonders helping him fight the toxin’s effects. The horror on the midget’s face told him they weren’t expecting that.

“Crane, what the hell’s happening? Control this damn overgrown fish, will you!?”

“Now, Mr. Curry, be a good boy and behave” said Crane, using one of his  
spray directly over Arthur’s face. “You don’t want your friends to be in danger for disobeying, do you?”

Although he tried to resist inhaling the damned thing, in the end it was useless. That’s how everything had gone to hell. He’d beaten the crap out of the Penguin. He had been about to do the same with the scrawny shithead in front of him but Crane had used his fear toxin and, well, it hadn’t been pretty. His atlantean physiology had helped him resist much of its effects. Still the hallucinations had been pretty fucking real at times, and it had hindered him from stopping Crane using his gas again.

The strength and amount of the chemical had won in the end. How Bruce had survived that long with this thing running through his veins was something Arthur would wonder about for a long time.

“Ngh!”

He didn’t want this! He wanted to choke the life out of these two creeps. He wanted to take revenge on Crane for hurting Bruce and he didn’t want to disappoint his friend. Arthur wanted to avoid being controlled again so much that he actually managed to move his arm. Enough strength went into the movement to knock the gas container from his hand, making both men jump in fear for a moment, but his victory was short lived, as his vision blured due to the absurd quantity already running through his veins.

Scarecrow jumped at the opportunity, and used the straps he’s just untied to tie him to the bed again, before he could recover and picked his gas container up from the floor.

“Fucking hell, you good for nothing straw brained moron! You said he wouldn’t resist your hypnotic bullshit!”

“He’s impressively resistant, no doubt due to his inhuman nature. What a fascinating creature.”

“Well, do something before he fucking snaps out of it again and strangles us both. I bet that’s the only thing crossing his mind right now.”

“Time to change that.”

After another strong dose of the gas, Crane had described in horrifying detail the tragedies that could befall his friends. Both of his homelands were practically unreachable by these clowns. He wasn't afraid of something happening to them, but the rest of the League was always in constant danger, and, with everything they’d endured together throughout the last months, he’d started thinking about them as family.

That was what Scarecrow had used to his advantage. He’d made him spill his guts about his fears and then used them to manipulate him into doing everything he wanted. Namely taking the ship and all its contents to a secure place where he could rob it at his leisure and fabricate more of this hellish thing.

With the last of his temporary sanity fading, he glanced toward the part of the grimy floor of the building they’d been holding him captive at, where the remains of what used to be his comm and JL secure line lay. The moment the Penguin and Scarecrow realized they couldn’t use them to their advantage was the moment his last chance at contacting his friends had vanished.

Part of him was sad that the possibility of a rescue was gone, but a bigger part was glad, glad that they wouldn’t end up in his same place, that they were out of Scarecrow’s reach, at least for the moment. Arthur clung to hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d die from poisoning before he could do any more harm to Gotham, or his friends.

 

*.*.*.*.*

 

“I’ll get rid of this fish fucker as soon as I can. He’s too dangerous, especially ‘cause you keep failing to control him.” growled Cobblepot, his snarl hidden by the gas mask he refused to take off while near his associate.

“I’ll gladly keep him for my experiments, He’ll be the perfect subject to test the limits of my fear toxin.” Crane smiled widely, his intentions clear as day.

“Forget about it, Crane, I already have a buyer for this exotic specimen. Malone may have a stupid name, but he sure got a sweet deal from an old fool with too much money.”

“What makes you think I’ll allow that? Remember who was the one who clipped Batman’s wings, Cobblepot.”

“I’m not like this laughable attempt of a hero. I’m not scared of you, or your air freshener, Crane. You should remember who you’re talking to and what will happen if you decide to cross me.”

A tense, silent moment followed the brief argument, then Scarecrow shrugged and smiled.

“Gotham will be my playground now that the Batman is gone, so I don’t really need this man. Sell him to the best bidder if you must”

Penguin grit his teeth at the irritating man, but decided that getting rid of him would be a bad idea, at least for now.

“Try to keep him alive, Crane, I don’t think this Hemingford Grey guy will appreciate damaged goods.”

“Not to worry, we only need to finish this last job and then you can dispose of him as best-”

Crane couldn’t finish his sentence as the wall was destroyed and the dust cloud was quickly dispersed by the sudden rush of air Superman created, his glowing red eyes bright in the poorly illuminated room.

“Hello, gentlemen! Is this where the annual brainwashed superhero convention is being held this year? Sorry for the fashionably late arrival, I _just_ got my own spandex wearing pet.”

“Puddin’, you think there'll be a costume contest? I don’t think we can win with that lame onesie Superman likes to wear.”

“The other contestant is shirtless, Harley, there’s no way we’re losing this year.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, stupid clown!?” yelled Penguin, interrupting the discussion, livid at the sight of part of his night club being reduced to rubble and backing away from the menacing form of the man of steel.

“I just thought I’d come and say **thanks** to the guy that almost killed Batman. And what better way to say thanks than to have Batsy’s new extraterrestrial friend express his sincere feelings. Go ahead, Supes, let him know how much we **appreciate** what he did.” 

A ghost of a smile seemed to appear on the superhero’s mouth before he blurred out of sight and reappeared on the other side of the room with his hand around Scarecrow’s neck, choking him effortlessly.

“Gah! Mr….Cur…ry! He…” The hold tightened and cut off his words. The man looked like he was about to pass out, while Cobblepot decided if helping his reluctant business partner was worth the risk.

In the end, it was Clark himself that slackened his grip enough that Scarecrow could escape and slide to the ground, choking in huge gulps of air.

“What was that? Harley, did you use the lipstick before we came here?”

“Y-Yes, Mr. J! I don’t know how he did that.” Joker growled, clearly not amused by the hero’s resistance

“Great, just what I needed… go and kiss him again, you useless woman! I want Crane destroyed right now.”

“Superman, come here!” the blonde ordered, and, slower than either psychos would’ve liked, he complied. Harley quickly did as she’d been told and that seemed to put Clark completely under their control again.

“Arthur,” Crane spoke, awkwardly approaching the Atlantean and undoing his bonds. “That is the monster who wants to kill your friends. It’ll destroy me if you don’t fight it, and you know I’m the only one who knows how to defeat it. Protect me and you’ll be saving your friends.”

A mix of absolute horror and rage filled Arthur’s eyes and he launched himself against Superman, his intent to kill very obvious.

“Oh, I didn’t know we’d have a wrestling match. Come on, Superman, make that pile of walking sushi regret ever coming to the surface.”

Clark seemed to grit his teeth, immediately lifting Arthur up by the jaw, much like he’d done to Bruce when he’d come back to life, and launched him through the hole in the wall he’d made entering the building. Arthur stood up quickly, launching himself again against the monster in front of him and Clark received him with a powerful kick Bruce had insisted on teaching him, but wasn't able to completely avoid Arthur’s fist, feeling the quite powerful strike hurt his insides.

It was an absolute nightmare after that. Both heroes punching each other viciously, not holding back as they usually would. The buildings around them tremblde with the force of their blows, almost all windows exploding from the tremendous shock wave of every attack. The screams of the civilians trapped inside was almost completely drowned by all the destruction.

After a while, it was obvious Superman had the advantage and an almost guaranteed victory. That was, until Penguin withdrew a beautiful ring with a big green glowing stone embedded on its shiny surface out of his jacket and gave it to Scarecrow.

“This should help him kill that nuisance! Hurry up and get rid of that pest before more of his friends show up.”

“Are you scared of them, Mr. Cobblepot?”

"You want to be the Joker now? That was funny. I just don’t want them bringing the Bat here.”

“Hey, that’s cheating! Where did you get that, you stupid fat bird?” Joker had lost his smile completely, but Penguin did smirk at the protest.

“You think Luthor only gave Kryptonite to you? Don’t be stupid, Joker. He gave it to every big shot he could think of. Guess that man _really_ hates Superman.

Then the fight was more even, with Superman slowly losing the edge and receiving more and more damage as the radiation continued to deplete his energy and health with every well placed hit.

Arthur managed to punch Clark square on the face, the blow so strong that it sent him flying towards an empty parking lot, and the Kryptonian seemed unable to get up right away. This gave Aquaman enough time to close in on him. The wild look on his face reflecting the fear toxin’s effect, and what it made him see when he looked at his otherwise friend.

“I’ll finish you, filthy monster! You won’t touch another one of my friends, you hear me??” He pinned the ugly thing to the ground with his weight, punching the creature onto the floor so hard that the concrete underneath them had cracked, the thing unable to stop him or respond to the attack.

“Arthur, no!” A loud scream came from behind him, and, before he could react, he found himself being restricted by a glowing rope. He struggled but it was too strong for him to destroy and at the other end, holding it tightly, was another monster, most likely a friend of the one he’d been so close to killing. Stupid! He shouldn’t have stopped, he should’ve known it was a trap! He doubled his struggle, making the beast holding him stumble a little.

“Release me!”

“Arthur, Aquaman, King of Atlantis, remember who we are, who **you** are! Remember!” said the horrifying creature and its glowing rope shined so bright it blinded him for a moment. When next he could focus his sight, he saw that the monster on the other side of his bindings had vanished, and in its place he could see a beautiful, pained looking face he recognized.

“Diana?”

“Don’t hurt Superman anymore.” said the princess and that made him look in the direction of the other ‘monster’. There, lying on the ground, pale and terribly bruised, lay Clark and horror that had nothing to do with the fear toxin filled him completely.

“What the hell is that woman doing here?!” Arthur could see the men that had kept him captive, touched the ring around his finger and, knowing this could very much be his last chance to do so, gave it to Diana.

“Di, destroy this. They have more of that thing, but one piece less in their hands is something less to worry about.”

“I’ll get you both out of here. Flash, Cyborg, can you-?” before she could even finish speaking, Superman threw himself at her, knocking her several feet away. He seemed ready to attack again but Arthur got in his way and, unlike Diana that wasn’t expecting it, could contain the blow, although barely.

“Ar…thur… leave, pl-please.” The small, afraid sounding voice of Clark reached his ears and, when he looked into his eyes, he could see the exhaustion and sorrow his friend couldn’t express otherwise. Then, he received a terrible punch to the face that left him dizzy and spitting blood on the floor. Clark would’ve followed up on the attack but it was Diana that saved him this time, her shield trembling under Superman’s gargantuan strength.

“Cyborg, Flash! Please respond!”

_“Diana? What’s wrong are you alright?”_

“Cyborg!” she grunted while stopping another punch with her shield “I need help, now! Arthur and Clark, they’re here”

_“I’m coming! I’ll try to… ell… sh… about…you?”_

“Cyborg? Vic?? Are you there? Athena, help us!” She cursed the moment her comm went silent and, but to forget that and concentrate fully on trying to stop Clark from killing anyone.

Arthur wasn’t able to stand, much less stop Scarecrow from carefully approaching him and using his toxin again, with Cobblepot making sure Joker and Harley were too distracted to pay attention to him.

“Let’s get out of here, Mr. Curry, we cannot forget that we have a mission and this pointless street brawl will only delay us further.” 

Arthur didn’t want to comply, he wanted to help Diana, to get Clark away from the real monster and bring them to safety, but that was only a small, small part of his mind that still could reason. The rest was convinced that, if he didn’t do as he was told, said friends would find a terrible end and so he listened to every word Scarecrow had to say.

“Arthur, don’t listen to him, please! Flash, Cyborg! Can you hear me?? I need help!” Her words were cut by the Kryptonian, his power admirable even after being so greatly diminished. This time, without Arthur to distract him, all his ferocity was directed towards her. She tried using her bracelets, to stun him at least for a moment, but Clark stopped her before she could finish the movement and that day on Heroes Park crossed her mind immediately.

“Di-I,” Clark managed to say and Diana could see a small tear roll down his cheek. That made her stop completely. Made her forget for a moment that Clark was compromised and her plan to use the kryptonite Arthur had given her to try and contain him to use her lasso on him too. Her pain and distraction helped Clark land several blows, including two powerful headbutts that left her on the brink of unconsciousness.

She thought she was done for. It’d take her a while to recover and her comm was still dead. She prayed to the gods for mercy and hoped Cyborg had managed to locate her before losing her signal.

“What are you doing?! Leave her, we’re losing Crane!”  
Clark returned to Joker’s side and, lifting both maniacs off the floor, flew away from the scene, without looking back.

Diana, still reeling from Clark’s attack and heartbroken, could only watch as both her friends were taken away from her again.


	4. WONDER WOMAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't y'all love repetitive stories? This is so bad lmao
> 
> Edited because my beta is an angel and fixed this mess for me. Thank you, Ser ♥

  
It had been five days since the last time they heard anything about Arthur or Clark. Alfred had had the brilliant idea of sending the Batmobile in a programmed route and then letting Barry run around dressed in an old, modified Batsuit, stopping a few crimes and letting himself be seen in strategic places so that word of the Batman’s return would spread while the remaining members of the League worked hard to find their comrades and stop the criminals that had kidnapped them from using them as their puppets any longer.  
  
It was worrying that they were both in the clutches of two of the most dangerous men in Gotham, and, dare she say it, the country; equally worrying was the length of time they both had remained out of their radar, even though Alfred had assured her it was due to their last clash, and the reappearance of the Dark Knight. Either both men where in really bad shape after the fight or they were both… Diana refused to finish that thought. Clark and Arthur were both alive, she could feel it, and the rest of the League would bring them back home safely.  
  
The rest of the League… that had been a fun conversation, after the disaster of the Iceberg Lounge.  
  
 _“How did Superman fall in Joker’s claws? It just doesn’t make sense! And Arthur, what was he thinking?! Oh, he wasn’t!” Barry had been devastated by the news when Cyborg had finally been able to send him to help her.  
  
She hadn’t intended on going on her own but the chaos had let her know at least one of her friends was close and she acted without thinking. A foolish move on her part but she wasn’t counting on even Cyborg failing to keep the communications working, and that had played against her in the end.  
  
“You must understand, Mr. Allen, Joker’s proficiency does not come from strength or riches, but rather from cunning and absolute unpredictability. He can surprise even Master Bruce on occasion and everything happened too fast for even Mr. Kent to keep up. As for Mr. Curry, this new version of the toxin is much stronger than anything he’s used in the past and Master Bruce always has the antidote with him, Mr. Curry had no such advantage. Had they-”  
  
“Listened to Bruce, like we told them to, none of this would’ve happened? That what you were about to say?” Interrupted Victor, the frustration and worry evident in his voice and Alfred lowered his gaze and the young man sighed, irritated and obviously tired.  
  
“Master Bruce didn’t lie when he said the League was not prepared to face Gotham’s variety of villains.”  
  
“So, what are we gonna do? We can’t just leave things like this!”  
  
“And what do you suggest, Barry? We don’t know where Superman went. Alfred said Joker has hideouts everywhere, even outside Gotham. Cobblepot and Crane are just as evasive and something is jamming every signal, even making my systems go out, and it’s completely random. So, really, only Bruce would know how to track them down at this point, and, newsflash, he’s still unconscious.”  
  
“Still, I could go around the city, search for them in every known lair since Bruce has a database full of them… we must do something!”  
  
“You’re right,” said Diana, squeezing his hand softly, “but we must think before acting. If we go around searching blindly, we’ll alert them and they’ll know where hunting them down and might do something rash and endanger Gotham’s citizens or our friends. Another one of these mistakes could cost us dearly. We’ve already lost too much and we need to be careful to get it back without losing anymore.”  
  
Barry lowered his gaze, his shoulders slumping with sadness.  
  
“I’m sorry, Di, I should’ve been there to help you… if I’d been there, Clark and Arthur would be with us now.”  
  
“Hey, you were helping with an earthquake in Mexico” Victor interrupted him. “Even if you’d been available at the time, there was no way to contact you. If I had kept the lines working like I was supposed to, Diana could’ve called for help much earlier, so it’s my fault all this happened.”  
  
“It’s no one’s fault,” declared the princess. “We did what we could, unfortunately it wasn’t enough but we can learn from our failures, and we got this,” she said, lifting the Kryptonite ring up from the table, “I don’t want to use this, but if I must to help Clark, then I will.”  
  
A heavy silence fell over the group, the weariness and uncertainty leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.  
  
“I propose we take a break, wearing ourselves to exhaustion will do us, or our friends, no good,” Alfred said, trying to lighten the dismal ambient,  
  
“I’ll prepare a nice meal and then you all will go and sleep.”  
  
“We can’t just go to sleep like nothing’s happening!” both Victor and Barry said in unison.  
  
“Joker, Scarecrow and Cobblepot will do nothing more for the day, possibly for the next two days. That fight was a close call for both parts and, super humans at their disposal or not, they’ll want to keep a low profile for now.”  
  
“Scarecrow said they had a ’mission’… you still think they won’t move soon?” retorted Victor, still skeptical.  
  
“I do believe that. Gotham’s criminals like to plan things thoroughly, mostly because Master Bruce manages to destroy their schemes rather easily most of the time, and that’s another advantage we have. With Batman’s recent sightings, they’ll be in high alert, they know he’ll be hot in their tracks to get his allies back and they’ll want to lay low as much as possible. You can sleep with ease tonight.”  
  
“He’s right, we’ll be of no use if we’re asleep on our feet and Bruce would be disappointed to learn we ignored Alfred, and by extension, him” commented Diana. The ‘again’ was left unsaid but still resonated in the air.  
  
That did the trick, both young men got up and asked where they could take a  
shower or rest, and Alfred guided them toward their rooms.  
  
“I’ll go make a few calls and will call you once dinner is ready.”_  
  
Diana stared at the darkened ceiling of her room, willing her mind to take pity on her and let her fall asleep. She sighed, tired, and closed her eyes, praying to the gods the next day brought some good news for them, they really needed some light some of that right now.  
  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
  
“What are you watching?” asked the princess, joining Victor, Barry and Alfred for breakfast.  
  
“They’re talking about the recent robberies. At first, they didn’t know they were related because the alarms never went off when they occured so police and the victims didn’t find out until they got to the scene and noticed the missing money or jewels. They thought it’d been a malfunction of the alarm systems. It was after the last one they connected the dots.” Replied Barry, after he swallowed the spoonful of cereal he'd stuffed his mouth with.  
  
Both him and Victor were sitting at the table in the kitchen, they were watching the local news thanks to Victor’s makeshift projector.  
  
“I told him we could use the monitors in the cave after breakfast but these young men never listen to me,” lamented Alfred. “It’s almost comforting having someone stubborn to ignore me at all times.”  
  
Diana smiled and was about to respond to the butler when a phone rang and said man tensed visibly and excused himself before quickly leaving the kitchen.  
  
“We should look into this, Diana,” said Victor, reclaiming her attention.  
  
“The robberies?”  
  
“Yes, obviously we can’t ignore it and I think whoever is doing this is using whatever has been making the city lose communications. We need to get rid of whatever that thing is.”  
  
“You know what it might be?”  
  
“I didn’t know what it could be at first,” Victor frowned and Diana saw the worry in his eyes and knew it was bad news “but I remember that, before Steppenwolf came, Star labs had been experimenting with the Mother Box, testing its properties and, although the results were few and far between, they did get some.”  
  
“And you think this is related to that? That someone from the labs is responsible?”  
  
“In the chaos that the parademons caused, some of the altered equipment was lost, among that equipment was a device that was altered by its contact with the Mother Box, part of a military project, it could interrupt any signal, but was shelved pending further investigation since it was no use to them if even their comms went off when activated.”  
  
“That does sound familiar.” Murmured Diana, thoughtfully.  
  
“I’m sorry, I completely forgot about that until yesterday when I talked to dad. I should’ve remembered sooner.”  
  
“These last few days have been complete madness, don’t be too hard on yourself. Tell me what we’ll be facing if this is actually that device.”  
  
“If it really is what we’re facing, we could be in more trouble than we think. Before it disappeared, they found out it could access any network with ease, even take control of satellites,” said Victor, a worried look on his eyes.  
  
“Satellites? As in, plural?”  
  
“Yes, at the same time but they never got any further than that. Whoever is in possession of that jammer obviously hasn’t discovered its capabilities but, given enough time, I doubt it’ll stay that way.”  
  
“Can you do anything to deactivate it?”  
  
“I’ve been having some difficulty trying to even stop it from affecting me since it’s ‘made’ with the same technology that created me and it’s so random, but, I can stay functional and, probably, keep our comms on next time they try to use it, maybe even deactivate it... probably.”  
  
“So… all three of us are gonna go catch them, right?” Barry, who had been too busy eating the impressive mountain of food Alfred had prepared for him and half watching the news half listening to their conversation, finally chimed in. “Since, y’know, every time we try the lone wolf thing someone ends up as a drooling zombie.”  
  
“I’ll tell Arthur you called him a drooling zombie.”  
  
“Hey! It’s not like was much of a change for him, the drooling part was there already.”  
  
“Anyway” said Diana, glad that they could still joke about it all. “We’ll have to wait for them to attack again, think you can locate them next time, Victor?”  
  
“I think so, yes.”  
  
“Good, we’ll go and ask Commissioner Gordon about the other three robberies and see if we can predict where they’ll-”  
  
“Uhn!”  
  
Victor clutched his head and both Diana and Barry were by his side the next second.  
  
“Vic, what’s wrong?”  
  
“They’re using it again!”  
  
“Can you guide us to the origin?” Diana urged him, the young man looked at her and, shakily, he nodded.  
  
“I wish they’d given me more time to prepare but I’ll do it.”  
  
“You don’t have to come with us,” said Barry, holding his arm tightly. “Just tell us where it’s coming from and we’ll do the rest.”  
  
Victor closed his eyes for a moment and, after a minute opened them, a look of determination set firmly in his eyes.  
  
“My safety protocols just kicked in, I’m fine now. Let’s go before they turn it off and we miss them.”  
  
They quickly changed into their costumes and were getting ready to leave when Alfred came back from Bruce’s study, his eyes firmly fixed on Barry.  
  
“I’m sorry to have to do this but I need you to accompany me, Mr. Allen.”  
  
“Can’t it wait? We most be together right now, especially with Vic feeling out of sorts with that jammer thing.”  
  
“I know what you’re thinking Mr. Allen but I assure you this is of the upmost importance and I can’t do it alone.”  
  
“But…”  
  
“It’s alright, Barry,” interrupted Cyborg, patting the other man’s back. “I’m fine now and Diana will be with me, we’ll be safe.”  
  
“Help Alfred,” said Diana with what she hoped it was a reassuring tone. “Trust us.”  
  
The young speedster hesitated but then nodded and followed Alfred down to the cave. Diana turned to look at Victor and, receiving a nod, they quickly made their way out of the manor and into the city.  
  
  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
  
  
“It seems their target is another jewelry this time,” said Victor while they quickly approached the origin of the signal, hoping they’d get there before the culprits could run away.  
  
They stopped a reasonable distance from the building, they could see movement inside but nothing too suspicious as to make someone call the police.  
  
“Are you sure it’s here?”  
  
“Yes, they must be raiding the place right now.”  
  
“Alright, so we’ll split. I’ll go through the front door, you’ll block the back entrance and we’ll stop them before they can escape.”  
  
“That sounds like a plan.”  
  
Victor started making his way toward the alley on the side of the building and Diana surveyed the nearby streets, noticing there were few people around and feeling thankful for that when a movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention.  
  
She turned to take a good look and froze in her place. Arthur. It was Arthur, badly injured, holding what she could see was Superman’s cape tightly in his right hand and leaning against the wall of a distant building, he seemed to be trying really hard to stay standing and, after resting a while, made his way down the deserted walkway and out of her view.  
  
“Diana? Is everything alright?” Victor’s voice barely registered, her whole concentration was on the street she’d seen Arthur disappear down “Diana?”  
  
“Did you see him?” she asked, frantic, when Victor rejoined her after she failed to answer his question the first time.  
  
“See who?”  
  
“Arthur!”  
  
“Diana, there’s no one there… I don’t even see a heat reading that matches his.”  
  
“But that was him! I know that was him and he seems to be in very bad shape.”  
  
“It sounds like a trap, Di… we need to stay together. When we’re finished here, we’ll both go and search for him, both of them.”  
  
“He left a trail of blood, Victor… if he’s bleeding, then he’s in serious trouble, we need to get to him right now. Besides, we can’t afford to let them fight against each other again, what if they destroy more than the Iceberg Lounge this time? Last time, I was barely able to stop Arthur from killing Clark, what if they manage to kill each other now?” by the looks of it, they could already be too late.  
  
Victor looked torn and Diana knew why but there really was no option. She laid both hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.  
  
“Can you destroy that thing?”  
  
“Diana…”  
  
“Can you?”  
  
“…yes.”  
  
“I trust you, I know you’ll do it and stop whoever’s using that device. I will bring Arthur and Clark back, trust me.”  
  
The young man didn’t look convinced but he really saw no more options than what they were about to do.  
  
She smiled at him, caressed the diamond on her necklace and ran into the street she’d seen Arthur at.  
  
  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
  
  
At some point she’d lost the trail of blood that the Atlantean had left behind and she wondered whether that was a good or a bad sign, praying to the gods she could find him soon.  
  
She walked a few more blocks before emerging in front of a park. She looked around again, trying to find anything that would indicate Arthur had been there but she could see nothing and started to wonder if she’d imagined it all, wondering if Cyborg had been right and that it all had been a trap to separate them even though there was no way for the criminals to know they’d be going together.  
  
“You’re Wonder Woman, right?” one of the little girls that had been playing at the park had run towards her, her voice made the amazon jump slightly at the unexpected sound “you’re awesome!”  
  
Diana smiled at the obviously starstruck kid and nodded.  
  
“I am, it’s a pleasure to meet you. What’s your name?”  
  
“I’m Alice! Are you here to catch some bad guys?”  
“Something like that… Alice,” Diana said, hoping against hope the little girl could help her “Did you, by any chance, see Aquaman walking around here?”  
  
“Aquaman?”  
  
“A big, muscular man with a big beard and long hair.”  
  
The little girl twirled a strand of her long blonde hair absently, thinking hard before answering.  
  
“Yeah, he went that way” answered the kid, pointing toward a fairly distant street and frowning slightly “he was walking funny, is he alright?”  
Diana was relieved, if the girl had seen Arthur then that meant she was not hallucinating and he needed her help.  
  
“Don’t worry, he was walking funny because he’s helping me catch those bad  
guys, remember?”  
  
Alice’s eyes went wide with awe and Diana smiled a bit too tightly, more than she would’ve liked, already turning to go in the direction Alice had indicated.  
  
“Good luck, Wonder Woman!”  
  
She could barely hear the encouragement before she reached the street she’d been pointed towards and, after searching for a bit, not too far away, she could see a red cape lying on the floor of a dirty alley. She made her way quickly to the piece of fabric, noticing the blood stains and wondering where its owner or the one that’d brought it here were.  
  
“Good Morning, my dear,” a voice called from behind her and Diana quickly turned around, her senses sharpening and preparing for battle, expecting nothing less from this city at this point.  
  
“Who are you?”  
  
“I’m Jervis Tetch, though you might know me better by my other title, the Mad Hatter.”  
  
Diana didn’t have time for this, Arthur was seriously hurt and she had starting fearing that all the blood was not coming from Aquaman, she needed to move, now.  
  
“What do you want?”  
  
“Just a simple thing: I want you to become my Alice.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“What you heard, I want you to become my Alice, we’ll recreate this city, turn it into our own Wonderland… with your help, it will be so easy.”  
  
Diana lost her patience and walked towards the man, tall and imposing, clutching his jacket and bringing him face to face with her.  
  
“Get out of my sight or you’ll regret it, I have much more important things to attend to than indulge your delusions, so better get out of my way and don’t try anything or I’ll make sure you’ll regret it”  
  
She threw him to the floor and started walking out of the alley when she heard him laugh.  
  
“What do you think you’re doing, lady? Give my ribbon back, you thief!”  
  
“What are you talking about? This is Superman’s…” she lifted her hand, ready to show him the bright red cape she was holding but her eyes landed on the piece of fabric in her hands, where there was nothing more than a delicate looking blue ribbon. She stared at the ribbon for a long time, not believing what her eyes were seeing.  
  
“That’s what you saw? Your missing friend’s cape? Oh, don’t look so shocked! The police may have done everything they could to avoid the chaos but everyone knows Joker has Superman as his dutiful servant and your friend Aquaman is in Penguin’s and Scarecrow’s hands.”  
  
“What was this…?”  
  
“I implanted this little hypnotic order in your brain. It made you see what you wanted the most and brought you to me. I thought your magic armor would make it difficult to manipulate you but your desire to find your friends was strong enough to overcome the magic!”  
  
The shock transformed into pure rage, the realization that it was nothing more than a cruel lie to bring her before this horrible man only fueled the fire. She was at his neck again in the blink of an eye, this time she planned on punching her frustrations into Tetch’s face.  
  
“You don’t want to hurt me, my dear.”  
  
“I thought you were delusional before but now I know you’re completely brainless.”  
  
“Well, I’ll just have to kill beautiful, innocent Alice. A shame, she was so perfect, with her long, shinny blonde hair and big blue eyes.” Diana tensed at the mention of the little girl who had directed her here. Was the kid part of the Hatter’s plan? Was she in danger or was he just bluffing so she’d lower her guard again?  
  
“That ribbon in your hand, it’s identical to the one she was wearing, didn’t you notice?” her eyes quickly fell on the ribbon and it was, in fact, the same kind she’d seen the little girl using.  
  
“So what? You obviously planned all of this, so I can’t be sure you didn’t plan to use this to fool me, I can’t trust a thing you say,” she replied, tightening her grip on his throat. Tetch didn’t actually seem scared and that frighten Diana.  
  
“Well, they say a look is worth a thousand words.” He smiled again.  
  
At first, nothing happened and the princess was ready to let her fists do the talking for her, when a distant, worried voice reached her ears.  
  
“Alice? Alice? Where are you, A… Alice! Get down from that tree! Alice!!” The amazon felt her blood run cold, this couldn’t be happening.  
  
“What did you do?”  
  
“That lovely ribbon she loved so much put her under my control since her mother tied it around her head. She told you what I wanted you to hear and now waits at the highest branch she could reach, patiently awaiting my order to jump.”  
  
“Let her go!”  
  
“I could… but what would happened to the rest of the girls? They all got a pretty ribbon from the generous old man with the top hat.”  
  
“What makes you think I won’t kill you right now to stop you from harming them?”  
  
“Batman would be so disappointed in you, darling girl. Besides, you’re no killer either, I can tell. And, that wouldn’t stop them from obeying the order, but fine, let’s find out if you’re fast enough to save them all.”  
  
With the desperate cries of the horrified parents back at the nearby park resonating in her ears, she grit her teeth and released the Hatter who hastily got back on his feet, massaging his throat where the red marks of her fingers were already visible.  
  
“What do you want, Hatter? What will it take for you to leave those girls alone?”  
  
“I have no interest in harming them, darling girl. They were only the means to bring you here, you were my real target all along. You’ll be my perfect Alice, you’ll help me make Gotham the one and true Wonderland and you’ll rule it at my side.”  
  
“You know of the magic that protects me, your tricks won’t work now that I know my friends are not here,” she replied, trying to gain time and think of a plan that would let her escape the same fate Clark and Arthur were trapped in without risking civilians in the process.  
  
“Yes, I’m well aware but I know that you’ll do anything to save those innocent souls that got involved in this mess for no good reason, I don’t want to hurt them but I will if I have to.”  
  
The princess looked at the ribbon, hating having come here alone, having failed his friends and fallen into the same trap. She felt like an amateur but she was confident Victor and Barry would be able to set everything right. She removed her tiara, let it fall to the floor and kicked it behind a trash container, hoping her friends would find it before someone else could and, squeezing her necklace one last time, maneuvered the silk ribbon until it was tightly tied around her head.  
  
 _“I want you to wear this, Diana” Bruce had said, a week before the incident. She’d been shocked at seeing the beautiful necklace in it’s elegant box.  
  
“It’s not my birthday, you know?” he chuckled slightly.  
  
“Bruce Wayne never needed that excuse to spend money on a beautiful woman.” That made her smile.  
  
“Why are you giving me this?”  
  
“Because you’re my friend and I care about you.”_  
  
Diana caressed the delicate necklace Bruce had given her, a sad smile forming on her lips at the memory. The princess shook her head at how easily the man threw money away, even though she did think it was beautiful.  
  
 _“It’s a signaling device disguised as a pendant.”  
  
“So you can know where I am at all times? Paranoid much?”  
  
“One can never be paranoid enough. It’ll be useful if you need help. You can activate it with a specific touch that I’ll show you, so that the League can help you wherever you are.”  
  
“I thought our comms had that function already.”  
  
“Yes, but, sometimes, we’ll be unable to bring them with us and this signaling device is much more discreet than a black thing in your ear. It has other capabilities, but I’ll start simple, just localization.”  
  
“So you have one for each Leaguer?”  
  
“Exactly.”  
  
“Why use _me_ as your guinea pig?”  
  
“You’re the one member of the League that sees more activity than anyone else, except Clark. I think you’re the perfect subject.”  
  
“That and you still feel guilty about Clark’s…”  
  
“Absence.Yes, I suppose.”  
  
“You need to talk to him.”  
  
“…please, use it as much as you can. Especially if you’re going to fight someone, alright?”_  
  
 _“Diana? Can you hear me?”_ the voice that replaced the silence in her comms interrupted her memories and filled her heart with warmth and pain. 'This can still be used to our advantage' she reminded herself, feeling the weight of Bruce's gift around her neck.  
  
“Victor? Did you destroy it?"  
  
 _“I-I did… but…”_  
  
“Victor, I’m sorry.”  
  
 _“Diana? What’s wrong? Wait, I’ll try to g-go and…”_  
  
“Please, my dear, I cannot allow your allies to intervene in my plans, do get rid of that annoying thing” she fought the order, fought her own body so it would not obey but it was pointless, her hand reached her ear, plucked the comm link out of its place and destroyed the rather resistant little thing with ease. A tear slid down her cheek but that was all she was allowed to express.  
  
“Do not cry, my darling girl, everything will be alright. Now come with me.”  
  
She took the hand offered to her and followed without questioning, without hesitation, without thought.  
  
On the other side of the city, Victor was lying on the floor, trying frantically to regain contact with the princess while doing his best to remain conscious but, after destroying the altered jammer, all of his systems seemed to be failing and darkness surrounded him completely, right when both Alfred’s and Barry’s voices began filtering through his own comm, pleading for him to answer and tell them what was going on.


	5. FLASH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changed the order of the chapters so it makes more sense, with Flash's part coming before Cyborg's.

  
"Alfred, where the hell are we going?"

"Please refrain from using that language, Master Barry." 

"Alright, sorry, but where are we going? It's not that I don't trust Di and Vic, but I'm sick of seeing my friends be turned into zombies and not being able to do anything until it's too fuc… I mean, until it's too late." 

"As I said before, we'll just have to have the same faith Master Bruce had when he entrusted this city, his life's work, to his team," replied Alfred, finally stopping his almost mad race right in front of the old clock that disguised the entrance to the cave. He quickly opened it, starting his descent into the underground base and obviously expecting Barry to follow him without looking back once to confirm he was behind him. 

He quickly turned to a part of the cave that looked like the dressing room of a theater; dozens of wigs, outfits, prosthetics and more make up than he had seen in his life neatly sorted all over the room. Even with his speed, his eyes kept stumbling over things he'd missed at first glance. 

"What is this?" He was cut short when Alfred pulled him in front of the mirror, the bright lights blinding him for a second before the man started rapidly applying make up to his face "Whoa, hey! What are you doing?" 

Alfred sighed, obviously in a hurry and not in the mood to explain his odd behavior but realizing the young man wouldn't cooperate until he understood the urgency of their task. 

"You and I need to disguised ourselves as Matches Malone and Sir Hemingford Gray so that we can go 'buy' Master Arthur from Penguin." Barry was so shocked by the revelation that he stood still and let the man work uninterrupted until he started plastering a very real looking mustache to his upper lip. 

"We're going to what?" 

"The effects of the fear toxin wear with time, although there are very few individuals who have survived it’s devastation to prove such a fact, Master Bruce being one of them. That, alongside the fact that, even with Master Arthur's half Atlantean nature, the toxin basically destroys the nervous system and it must have affected him to the point of making him a liability for them. Master Arthur must be getting weaker by the day, and no longer being of use to them, Cobblepot and Crane decided to get rid of him. Let’s thank the heavens Cobblepot is such a greedy man, and recognizes a good deal when he sees one." 

Barry felt his blood run cold. "You mean Arthur…?" 

"He's a strong man and we have the means to help him here. Let's have faith and believe we're not too late to help him recover." The speedster wanted to cry. This couldn't be happening. What was wrong with this city? None of its villains were super powered, so how the hell had they managed to reduce them all to this? 

"Focus, young man. I can't do this alone. I need you to be centered and lucid so that we may come out of this victorious. If your worry is that great, let it become the strength you need to help the people who need you," said Alfred, squeezing his shoulders and looking directly into his eyes, willing him to get the message. 

"Right, sorry," rasped Barry, breathing deeply to try and regain control over his emotions. "What's the plan?"

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

"What do you want?" a big, tattooed man growled when he and Alfred reached the back entrance to the recently rebuilt Iceberg Lounge. Barry was impressed. Even with enough money, the place had been an absolute wreck after Superman had basically made a new door and tossed Aquaman out of said new door, not succeeding in avoiding the already damaged wall, and causing much of the building to collapse with the shockwave of their punches. The fact that Penguin had managed to make it look like nothing had happened, for the most part, was almost admirable.

Alfred nudged him slightly, signaling for him to talk, and he remembered who he was supposed to be. He almost cleared his throat, but stopped himself in time. Then pinned the taller guy with a nasty look and growled his own reply.

“What me and the old man are doing here is none of your damn business, understood? Tell Cobblepot his money is here and he’ll lose it, and a good for nothing grunt, if we’re not inside in two minutes.”

The thug looked at him, then fixed his eyes on Alfred. The old man only straightened his posture, not looking intimidated by the sight of the mountain of muscles in front of him. He growled low, then turned around, closing the door behind him, and Barry let out a small, shuddery sigh.

“Stay in character, young Master Barry,” whispered Alfred, never losing his stance. “We must _be_ the people we’re interpreting. Otherwise, we’ll be discovered and every hope of regaining control of Gotham will be lost.”

“Yer threatenin’ me, old fart?” sneered Barry, leaning closer to Alfred in a menacing gesture. “Don’t worry, Al… we won’t fail,” he whispered in return. The butler smiled very slightly then pushed the younger man with disdain painted across his face.

“I wouldn’t be seen near you, Malone, if I didn’t need you to get my item.”

“Finally, a man of culture who I can relate to.” The gravelly voice of the Penguin interrupted their argument. “Come inside, please, gentlemen,” he said while keeping the door open for them to walk inside. The man who had received them stood at one side of the hallway, his right eye sporting a nasty bruise that had stared swelling quickly. “I imagine that is my money?” He gestured towards the briefcase Alfred held in his hand.

“Of course, who do you think I am, Mr. Cobblepot? I’m not the kind of scum you usually do business with. Of course, you must understand that I’ll need to see my… purchase before handing the money over. After all, it is a very generous sum.”

Barry glanced toward the briefcase remembering how that conversation had gone down. Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars were carefully laid inside of it. Barry had never seen so much money together, and asked Alfred if it really was alright for them to give it to a criminal who would probably use it for something highly illegal.

“Oh, don’t mind it,” had replied the butler while they were on their way to their meeting with Penguin. “Master Bruce created that bank account specifically for cases like this. Besides, he’d give all the money in that account and then some for any of you, Master Barry, this is nothing. So, don’t worry,” he’d said, nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just revealed that Bruce would dish out nine hundred thousand dollars or more for his friends. The speedster had had to fight to keep the tears at bay.

“Alright, but you’ll have to follow me. The guy is not able to walk on his own right now.”

“What the actual fuck, Penguin?” growled Barry, barely managing to stay in character, but unable to stop himself from saying something. “You said the merchandise was in good condition!”

“He’s still alive, that’s as good a condition as you need, Malone,” replied Penguin balefully, his beady eyes pinning Barry to his place, and the speedster could barely stop himself from punching the top hat from that ugly head.

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

Barry’s left leg was starting to get numb. It had been a difficult task getting Arthur on the backseat of the luxurious car and his leg had been trapped under the taller man’s weight. Thus, he’d had no choice but to stay there while Alfred took the wheel and got them out of the Iceberg Lounge’s parking lot, and a bit closer to safety.

His leg was not the only problem. The briefcase they’d transported the obscene amount of money Penguin asked for had been thrown carelessly on the backseat. The thing had nowhere to go but behind him, and now was digging painfully against his ribs. He tried to move it so that it’d stop almost puncturing his lungs, with moderate success.

He took a good look at his friend, at his head resting on Barry’s lap, and the initial relief he felt when Penguin had let them take the man out of the building without question or suspicion faded almost completely. 

He looked pale, much paler than he’d ever seen anyone look, and the deep black circles that surrounded his eyes made him look like one of those vampires from the old black and white movies; his hair looked filthy and it had lost its luster. Barry treaded his fingers through a few locks to untangle them as much as he could. His hand moved on its own towards the strong chest, and he let out a small sigh when the steady heartbeat underneath assured him they weren’t too late.

“Don’t worry, Master Barry, the hardest part is over now. He’ll survive this, you’ll see.”

“Of course he’ll survive, how else am I gonna make fun of him for not listening to Bruce?” Replied Barry, with half a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes.

“I prepared everything we could need, it will not be easy to get him to the second floor. Let’s hope Master Victor and Miss Prince are back from their mission and can lend us a hand.”

“Let’s hope,” said Barry, praying that they both came back home safely.

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

“Alright, so how are we going to get him out?”

“Help me get him upright. I’ll pull him out while you push him. If we could carry him all the way out of that club, then we can make the trip to Master Bruce’s bedroom.”

“Are you sure he won’t get mad at you for making him share a room with Arthur?”

“We’ll need to keep a close eye on both of them and there’s no reason to have them in separate rooms. There’s plenty of space in his. Besides, he will be in no condition to be mad at me for a while. If he wanted to avoid leaving the decision making to me, he should’ve listened when I told him to ask for help,” replied Alfred with the confidence of someone who washed Batman’s underwear on a daily basis.

That put an end to their conversation and marked the start of their attempts at carrying Aquaman inside the manor. 

Barry almost fell to the floor when Alfred stopped supporting his share of the weight so that he could put the thick arm around his neck, but he managed to stay on his feet and both men begun the tricky journey to the top floor. Half an hour later found them sweaty and exhausted, sitting on each side of the bed where Arthur was now resting, connected to a series of machines that monitored all his vitals and an IV that contained the anti-toxin he so desperately needed right now.

“Goodness, what does he eat, lead? Holy shit.”

“Please, refrain from using that language, young man.”

“Sorry, it’s just the dizziness talking. I’m glad to have him back, even if I almost broke my back carrying him all the way up here. I’ll make his life a nightmare when he recovers.” 

Alfred smiled at that and stood up from his seat. “How about I start preparing our meal while you go and check on the rest of the team? What would you like to eat?”

“How about three giant pizzas? I’m not too hungry.” 

The older man chuckled at that. “I’ll see what I can do.” He turned around but, just as he was about to walk out of the room, the phone on the bedside table started ringing. 

“Wayne manor, how may I help you?”

There was a moment of silence after which Alfred tensed but said nothing, and Barry looked at him intently, his stomach churning in fear.

“Understood, we’ll be there in a minute,” said the man then hung up. He turned back around, looked at Barry and gestured him to follow. “Come, we need to get to the Silver Rose Jewelry as soon as possible.”

“That’s the place Di and Vic went to investigate! What happened? Who called?” The speedster didn’t know if he wanted to hear the answer, but Alfred looked like he’d seen a ghost and that couldn’t be good news.

“It was Commissioner Gordon, he asked the League to send someone to pick Cyborg up from the place. He said he and his officials would make sure no one noticed him, and would keep him hidden as long as they possibly could, but that we needed to hurry up.”

“Wait, Gordon knows?!” He was dumbfounded. The Commissioner knew Bruce was Batman, and had not tried to arrest him or blackmail him, even though the man was filthy rich. Alfred didn’t answer but his silence was confirmation enough. He shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. “What happened to Vic?”

“He was found unconscious on the floor of the store. Mr. Dent was lying near him, so I assume their fight left them both in bad shape. Gordon seems to have hidden Master Victor from the rest of his team, but it won’t take long for one of the officers to find him. That’s why he called here. He usually never does that.”

Should he be relieved? All they knew was that he was unconscious, but they couldn’t know if he’d wake up at all. If Two Face had been the one he’d fought against, why was he left on the floor? Did he manage to find the blocker and that made him vulnerable to whatever Two Face had done to him?

“Where is Diana? Did she not help him?”

“Commissioner Gordon did not mention anything about Miss Prince. I assume she was not there with him when he confronted Dent.”

“Why would she leave? She _knew_ that was not an option, that they had gone there together _precisely_ to avoid this situation! What the hell was she thinking?” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Goddammit, I didn't sign up for this!" joked Barry, or tried, his tone made it sound flat and he grimaced at the sound of his own voice. 

The older man looked at him with pain filled eyes, not even bothering to chastise him for cursing. He was only slightly surprised when Barry practically ran toward him and wrapped his arms around his waist, sobbing quietly for a few moments. 

It wasn’t enough to let out all the tension and pain he felt, there wasn’t enough time for that, but it was enough to gain a bit of control over his emotions.

“Better?” asked the butler after a while, speaking softly.

“Yeah, thanks,” he lied, wiping the tears off.

“Let’s go. I bet Gordon is starting to wonder if we got lost on our way there.”

“Come on, we need to get the ambulance and change into our next costumes.” 

Barry barely managed to keep his jaw from hitting the floor at the casual mention of an ambulance. Was there something the Batman did own? He kept his questions for later, when urgent matters could leave time to the important things.

“How are we gonna take care of all of them? I barely manage to take my pills on time!” 

Alfred only shook his head, checking the various machines attached to the sleeping men in the room one last time. "I’ll teach you all you need to know. I have learned everything there is to learn about first aid and then some in the course of caring for Master Bruce. I’m an exam away from being a surgeon.”

“Alright, just checking… you think I’ll look good in scrubs?” 

“You’d make a stunning nurse, young man." 

Barry couldn't stop a small chuckle. Alfred was really admirable, his calmness the only thing preventing Barry from joining Bruce and Arthur on a bed of his own. Taking a look at both his friends one last time, the speedster followed Alfred out of the room and down to the cave, dreading what they’d find at the shop.

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

The trip to the mostly deserted place was a tense one, neither men in the mood for small talk. The only sound that surrounded them was that of the radio Barry had turned on in hopes of finding a tune to distract himself from his storming thoughts, only to find every local station interrupted by breaking news. 

Rumors that members of the Justice League had been spotted around the city right before the incidents that warranted these sudden reports had started to spread and they wondered if everything that had happened that day finally confirmed what all of Gotham was afraid of: the Dark Knight was truly dead.

_“…r’s park, were the GCPD responded to several calls to their emergency line after a group of young girls, ages 7-13, started behaving strangely, putting their own lives in danger._

_‘Alice climbed that tree, with no hesitation! She… she’s afraid of heights, she can’t even climb up the ladder that leads to the roof! She wouldn’t listen to me and… oh, god, I thought she’d fall, she was so high up on that tree!” the terrified mother of one of the victims told our reporter._

_‘One of the girls was talking to a stranger that was dressed as Wonder Woman’ said Justin Davis, one of the vendors that were present at the time of the incident ‘When I saw what was happening, I thought I’d go and ask for her help but she was nowhere to be seen. She looked like the real deal but I guess she was just a fan.’_

_The reports suggest that the young girls were being manipulated with some sort of mind controlling device, police are still…”_

Barry turned off the radio, adjusting the blue uniform that was impeccable thanks to the man on the steering wheel and hoping against hope that both his friends were alright.

“You finally made it,” was the first thing Gordon said, ushering them to the farthest side of the now destroyed shop, and past the two detectives keeping everyone else from entering the crime scene.

“I apologize, Commissioner,” replied Alfred, already kneeling beside the unconscious hero on the floor. “We were held up by an emergency. We couldn’t come here sooner.”

“It’s alright. You were lucky that both incidents happened at the same time. Our forces had to split up, and I was the first one to enter the building.”

“Did you see Wonder Woman around here?” asked Barry, tugging Victor’s arm until he was lying on his side, then placing the backboard under him and letting him down over the thing slowly. Barry hoped it could support his weight long enough to get him onto the stretcher. 

“Was she really here?”

“She was supposed to be here to assist Cyborg, Commissioner. That is why we were puzzled when you told us she was not around.”

“There wasn’t anyone else besides Cyborg and Two Face. It seems the fight started with the goons, then when Cyborg defeated them, he engaged Dent. We don’t know what happened, but both men were out when we got here.” replied Gordon, deciding to help them. 

With their strength combined they barely managed to get him on the stretcher then started the arduous task of getting him up on the ambulance. Gordon, once again, was a lifesaver, and helped Alfred push him up into the back of the vehicle while Barry pulled from inside.

They rested a few minutes, exhausted then closed the doors and prepared to leave.

“Mind if I look around, Alfred? Just in case I can find anything?” asked Barry, no need to tell the butler what he was searching for because the man just nodded, then shifted his attention towards the Commissioner again.

Barry quickly ran toward the park, swiftly swiping the streets, looking for something, anything, even the smallest clue that could tell him what had happened to Diana and why she decided to leave Victor alone when she knew that was the thing that had costed them so much.

He was about to give up, walking towards a street a few blocks over. He didn’t think he would find anything; it was rather far away from the park, but he searched every part of the street, and then the alley that cut to the right.

He sighed in defeat, already turning around to leave the alley when a flicker of light caught his attention. He crouched down, rummaging through the few old newspapers and beer cans strewn around until he found the source of the glinting. Diana’s tiara, in the garbage on the floor, in an alley that had no other sign she’d been there at all. He clutched the sturdy metal in his hands, wondering if she was alright, and what could have been grave enough to make her throw such an important item away like that.

He quickly returned to the back alley of the jewelry store, where Alfred and Commissioner Gordon were waiting for him, although for them it had been less than two minutes.

“Ready to go?” asked Alfred. His gaze fell on the golden headpiece, a slight widening of his eyes was all the indication he gave of his shock.

“Let’s go,” was the curt reply from the speedster, who didn’t’ hesitate in jumping on the passenger seat and waited for the butler to do the same.

“Thank you so much, Commissioner,” said Alfred over the sound of the motor starting. “The League is indebted to you.”

“It’s alright,” said the officer, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. “Just tell me you’ll stop Joker.”

“Of course we will, Sir.”

“And… how is he?” 

“He’s making progress, we hope he wakes up soon,” replied Alfred, the weariness of the whole ordeal showing on his face. 

Gordon took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled with a forlorn expression. “You should go now. We don’t want reporters to notice you too much. Tell him I said ‘hi’, please.”

The silence from earlier returned, now thick with anxiousness and pain, as they drove. Alfred looked like he wanted to say something, try to comfort him but Barry knew he felt the same hopelessness. The same certainty that they were the only ones left, and that the city and their friend’s fate rested on their shoulders.

How had it come to this? They were the Justice League! It was just a city; how could it achieve what a warlord from outer space couldn’t? Barry really hadn’t signed up for this.

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

  
It had been four hours since they had arrived at the manor, three since they’d agreed to leave Victor in the cave, for the lack of a better idea.

“That’s the best place for him, anyway,” said the older man, sitting rather gracefully for how tired he looked, on the couch in front of Barry. “Maybe we can figure something out with the computers down there, something to help him recover.”

“You have any idea what to do with a Cyborg made of crazy alien technology?”

“I’m not that good,” replied the butler with a wistful look that seemed to be directed in the general direction of Bruce’s bedroom.

“There’s only me and you now, so you better start learning engineering or whatever you use to fix a robot, unless you want what happened to the compressing machine thing back at the Cave to happen again.” The young man chuckled, unable to stop himself at the barely concealed grimace on Alfred’s face at the reminder.

His eyes fixed on the golden tiara resting on the coffee table dividing the couches, killing his good spirits mercilessly. The older man’s gaze followed his and sighed softly.  
“We’ll find her. She’s a strong woman. She trusts us, and she won’t regret that decision.” 

Barry just nodded, trying to think of something funny to say, but finding he just couldn’t. The day had been hard, and he just wanted to sleep and forget everything for a few hours. Instead of closing his eyes, he said, “You sound really confident.”

“I have an idea, come with me to the cave and let’s see if it’s a good one.” 


	6. CYBORG

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More 3 am posting because why not?  
> Also, sorry for turning you into a shitty laptop, Cyborg  
> Changed the order of the chapters so it makes more sense, with Flash's part coming before Cyborg's.

**SYSTEM RESTORATION: 96%**  
  
 **AUDIO RECEPTORS SUCCESSFULLY REPAIRED**  
  
 _“Kid, you better fuck outta here, you’re way in over your head this time.”_  
  
 _“Oh yeah? And you think I’ll just let you leave with that thing? You may have two faces but they definitely don’t come with the brains.”_  
  
 _“Big mouth, just like the Bat freak. I hope he taught you more than that.”_  
  
 _It was too near, his safety protocols almost non existent this close to the device but he’d definitely keep his promise to Diana, to Bruce and he’d find Clark and Arthur and they’d show Gotham they could tame her, that the Dark Knight was not alone and the League could protect her too._  
  
So he wrapped his own hand over the one holding the jammer, the lunatic trying to use it to incapacitate him, having noticed how much it affected him. Victor acted as quickly as he could and started sabotaging the small gadget, all the while trying to fight his own body that was going nuts, trying to stay in control of every part of it so it wouldn’t hurt anyone or destroy anything and trying to stay sane himself, the goddamned thing doing its job marvelously and almost succeeding on turning his systems off. Almost.  
  
“Think he’ll be alright? It’s been three days already, Al…”  
  
‘I’ll be fine, Barry’ he wanted to say but his mouth remained shut, as did most of his body. It had been a long time since he’d experienced true unconsciousness, his brain, now more machine than human tissue, was always alert, always calculating and running, just like Bruce’s computers down in the cave, uncaring if their operator was fit to make use of them or not. This time it was different, this time he knew he was lucky to still be functional at all and he was glad that at least he’d succeeded on destroying that bothersome piece of trash for good.  
  
 **SYSTEM RESTORATION: 97%  
**  
VISUAL RECEPTORS SUCCESSFULLY REPAIRED  
  
 _“You fucking annoying pest! I’ll shut you down and tear you apart! The Bat will have to buy you by the piece!”_  
  
 _Victor had a million snarky things to say but all his concentration was on destroying the jammer whilst trying to keep it from frying all communications, including the League’s comm links, his only way of reaching Diana right now and hoped he could do it without dying in the process._  
  
 _He finally, finally was able to stop the thing from having the almost unlimited range it used to and realized this would be his only opportunity to destroy it safely, so he started attempting an overload. He managed to do it but he knew the shock wave would fry most of the circuitry in his body._  
  
 _“What did you do?? I’ll fucking destroy you, you-?”_  
  
 _“Save it, Two Face, the only satisfaction I’ll take with me is that you both and I are going to hell together! No pair numbers this time.” That made the criminal struggle more fiercely, almost managing to free his hand from Cyborg’s grip. The man was strong for someone without super abilities and Victor just hoped he could get rid of the blocker before Two Face tried his luck again._  
  
 _A small but still devastating explosion made the whole building shake to its foundations and, when the commotion cleared, both men were lying on the floor, out like lights._  
  
 _That’s when several people, with perfectly functional cellphones, called the police._  
  
“I’m afraid we’ll have to wait and see, it seems destroying that altered signal blocker took a lot out of him and, as advanced as the cave’s equipment is, I’m afraid we’re ill prepared for something as extraordinary as Mr. Stone’s body.” Victor wanted to laugh, would’ve if his body had allowed it. As it was, his thanks for the kind butler’s words would have to wait a bit more.  
  
“Not like there’s a good place to bring the tin man so they can help him.” replied Barry with a snort “he’s too much of a special snowflake for that so he’ll have to suck it up and come back on his own.”  
  
 **SYSTEM RESTORATION: 99%  
**  
SOUND OUTPUT DEVICE SUCCESSFULLY REPAIRED  
  
SYSTEM RESTORATION: COMPLETE  
  
‘At least I didn’t get stuck at 99%’ Victor thought, then chuckled slightly at his own stupid joke, then regretted ever laughing in his life as the worst headache he’d ever felt tried to show him how a split skull actually felt.  
  
“VIC!” he heard the overjoyed shout of the only other member of the League still standing and, though it made his head throb painfully, still made him smile softly.  
  
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Master Victor, I hope you decide to stay among us for a long time.” the joke did nothing to hide the absolute relief painted on the older man’s face, mirrored by the Flash’s own expression.  
  
“You can say that when you stop looking like we’re in the middle of my funeral.”  
  
“Can you blame us? You’ve been out for *three days* and you were stone cold… see what I did there?”  
  
“Remind me why I stayed dead for three days?”  
  
“You break my heart, Vic.” The three men smiled and, seemingly unable to contain himself, Barry threw himself toward Victor, squeezing him hard in his arms. “Don’t scare me like that again. Everyone’s been falling like flies left and right, I thought Al and me where the only ones left.”  
  
Victor felt his chest constrict, funny since he didn’t have any organ or muscle that could do that due to any emotional response. He patted the youngest member of the team on the back, trying to console him.  
  
“And leave all the toys, especially the Batmobile, to you? Hell no.” he squeezed back and Barry let go, although reluctantly, to smile at the comment.  
  
“What happened with Two Face?”  
  
“He was found unconscious lying near you on the jewelry’s floor, he was taken into custody by Commissioner Gordon after a slew of calls were made to the GCPD.”  
  
“So all communications are working? Neat,” sighed Victor glad that he could manage that much at least “So what were you two doing while Two Face was kicking my ass at that jewelry?”  
  
“He was the one using that satellites-blocking-thing?”  
  
“Apparently,” replied Victor, trying to get up from the bed he’d been lying on and failing the first time. That piece of shit really did a number on him if even his balance was this bad “That’s what Penguin and Scarecrow meant when they said they had a ‘mission’. Two Face stole the device from Penguin, who bought it on an illegal auction. They were trying to use Aquaman to take revenge on him and get back the jammer.”  
  
“Sounds like what they’d do alright.”  
  
“You didn’t answer my question,” reminded Cyborg, crossing his arms “where did you two go?”  
  
Barry started fidgeting with his hands while Alfred remained unfazed by the demanding tone in the young man’s voice.  
  
“Think you can walk upstairs with us?” replied Alfred cryptically.  
  
“Sure. Will I like what I’ll see?” a knot of dread formed in his gut, the only reason they’d want him to go upstairs was Bruce and, with Alfred’s unreadable expression and Barry’s jittery behavior, it was easy to imagine something terrible had happened.  
  
He didn’t waste any time asking anything else or waiting for the answer, just stood up and followed both men out of the room, to Bruce’s bedroom. Alfred opened the door to the enormous place, which looked much smaller now that a second bed had been added.  
  
Victor couldn’t help himself, he practically ran towards the second bed, absentmindedly reaching out and touching the feverish forehead of the person lying on it.  
  
“How is this possible?” whispered the young man, his wide eyes darting from the smiling men standing a few feet away to the bed, amazed at the sight of Arthur himself, dead to the world, with an IV on his arm and looking haggard even in his sleep.  
  
“Matches Malone sniffed a good deal and called the eccentric Hemingford Gray to see if he wanted this rare specimen for his collection. Turns out, Sir Gray was more than excited to possess the prince of Atlantis himself and paid a hearty sum to get such a magnificent item,” replied Alfred, smiling devilishly and making Barry snort.  
  
“Matches Malone? Hemingford Gray? Am I supposed to know who these people are?” said Victor, not so sure he was actually awake, almost convinced this was an elaborate illusion his dying brain had made up just to make him happy before he kicked the bucket.  
  
“Of course not, Vic. Those are disguises Bruce uses sometimes when he needs information or other things Batman or Bruce Wayne can’t get ahold of,” said Barry.  
  
“Those must be rare occasions.”  
  
“You doubtin’ me skills, pal?” said Barry in what Victor assumed was his ‘Matches Malone’ voice “I’ll pop you off for that, kiddo.”  
  
“As I was saying,” interrupted Alfred, shaking his head but unable to hide the slight smile on his lips “I needed Mr. Malone to make an appearance, Sir Gray couldn’t just arrive on his own and, I needed Master Bartholomew to help me transport Master Arthur back to the Manor in as discreet a way as possible.”  
  
“Why didn’t you say anything? We could’ve helped you!” half reproached Victor, he’d have dropped anything else to go help them retrieve the man.  
  
“You and Miss Prince had an important task and, really, we needed a low profile and such an impossibly beautiful lady and imposing young man would’ve attracted too much attention. It is a shame we couldn’t help you or Miss Diana, that was unfortunate.”  
  
Victor had to, begrudgingly, agree with the old man’s logic. It didn’t matter though, since Arthur was back with them now, even looking as terrible as he did right now. That’s when he remembered the last thing he heard from Diana before blacking out.  
  
 _“I’m sorry, Victor.”_  
  
That was a goodbye, Victor knew that as surely as he knew the sun would rise the next day.  
  
“What happened to Diana?” Alfred and Barry looked at each other then Barry looked him in the eyes with a tired expression.  
  
“Her comm link was destroyed and there were reports of a group of children, specifically little girls, behaving weirdly at a park. Not too far from the place, I found this.” He blurred a bit, the only real indication of him moving was the golden tiara in his hands that wasn’t there a moment before.  
  
“Goddammit, Diana!” growled the young hero, feeling the overwhelming need to punch something but not daring to destroy any part of the recently restored mansion. He settled for gritting his teeth really hard “who was it this time?”

__

“Mad Hatter… the little girls were using ribbons with mind controlling mechanisms, exactly the kind Hatter uses. Not only that, all the girls described a man that looks exactly like Tetch giving them the ribbons and one of the girls, named Alice, remembers having talked to Wonder Woman before she disappeared” answered Barry and that little bit hope Victor had felt coming to life inside him at the sight of Aquaman back with them died a cruel death under the crushing weight of those terrible news. Would this place destroy them all before Bruce could come back? How had the man survived this long in this hellhole? He hoped Bruce never found out he’d called his city that.  
  
“No jammer to stop us from localizing her and no comm link to do just that… it’s like a really fucking cruel joke.” he wanted to cry, it wouldn’t solve a damned thing but it sure as hell felt like the only thing he could actually do right now.  
  
“No need for the foul language, Master Victor, not everything is lost.”  
  
Victor felt the gentle touch on his shoulder and for the first time noticed the almost serene expression on his friend’s faces.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Let’s go to the cave and you’ll see.”  
  
Victor just nodded and followed them silently, wondering if all the surprises these two had for him would do what destroying the jammer couldn’t.  
  
When they reached the cool, dark cave, Alfred showed him a glass case where several normal looking objects were on display, the empty space left between two of them let him know one was missing.  
  
A wristwatch, a decidedly cute fish shaped hair clip, a lightning shaped ear piercing and a leather football themed bracelet, the same he’d mentioned wanting to buy a few weeks ago but never got around to buying before all this mess started.  
  
“What is this, Alfred?”  
  
“Tracking thingies Bruce made for each of us! Diana’s was that pretty diamond necklace she was wearing when you two left to destroy the jammer,” it was Barry, again, the one to answer for the old butler who didn’t seem to mind that much.  
  
“Master Bruce thought the comm links would be too obvious if one of you needed to be discreet on your missions and created this trackers that look like ordinary things, so that you could still contact the rest of the team in case you needed assistance. So, you could say this is how Master Bruce intended to protect you all, he was just too chicken to ask all of you to use them at the same time and decided to start with the only person who will take none of his rubbish.”  
  
“So… we can use this, I mean, the one Diana was using…?”  
  
“To locate her, yes. Not only that, this devices can do more than give someone’s position, they are signal blockers on their own right though not as powerful and versatile as the one you thankfully got rid of, can act as communicators and are, in theory, resistant to most explosives, corrosives and waterproof, of course,” explained the butler, opening the case and extracting both the piercing and the bracelet, giving the latter to a dumbfounded Victor who could only stroke it softly. Bruce could come out as distant and even cold but he really cared about his friends “what I mean is that Mr. Tetch most likely has managed to use his brainwashing tools on Miss Prince and, knowing that she’s wearing the pendant, we can use that to help her snap out of his control and bring her home safe and sound.”  
  
Now, Victor prayed with everything in him that, if this really was just in his head, that he’d die without knowing the truth, it’d be too much finding out none of this was real and his friends were still out of his reach, still in the claws of their enemies and without a possibility of being rescued.  
  
Too much information, too many emotions in such a short time were making his head hurt even more. He stared at the trackers for longer than necessary, just trying to process all the news he was receiving nonstop since he woke up.  
  
“Why don’t you take a minute to assimilate all of this, Master Victor? It was obviously too overwhelming and we still have time to proceed with our plan of action, so sit down and breath deeply,” he nodded, doing as he was told, still holding the bracelet carefully in his hands.  
  
“Why the fish hair clip, though?” was the only thing he could think of saying. It was just too ridiculous, Arthur would kill Bruce when he found out.  
  
“Master Arthur mentioned having seen this hair clip once and thinking it was ‘pretty cute’. Master Bruce remembered that and said, and I’m quoting here, ‘now he’ll at least be able to talk to one fish.’” that made an ugly snort come out of him, it was just like Bruce to do just that, especially to Arthur.  
  
“So tell me something, Al,” said Barry, having recovered some of his appetite and practically making the five pizzas he’d ordered disappear  
“now you’ll call us all ‘Masters’?”  
  
“You ignore me, do reckless things that make my blood pressure go through the roof and are as stubborn as Master Bruce himself… you’re practically family at this point, young master Bartholomew.”  
  
“Ugh, I liked it better when you called me Mr. Allen,” replied the Flash, the grimace forming on his face at the mention of his whole name.Victor could only smile, the first time in weeks he felt genuinely in the mood to do it, looking at the piercing on Barry’s ear glinting in the dim lighting of the cave and deciding to wrap his own gift around his wrist, starting to analyze the multipurpose tracker so they could start their search for the princess and, hopefully, after bringing her back, of Clark.  
  
  
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*  
  
  
“So what do we know about Superman? Has there been any news about him or Joker?” asked Victor, having pinpointed Diana’s location and adjusted his and Barry’s trackers to stop Hatter from trying his mind control on them.  
  
“Not much. The next day you decided to imitate Sleeping Beauty, the news exploded with reports of Scarecrow and Penguin in the hospital, apparently they were given a good beating but nothing Superman level so we think it might be one of two things: either Superman is too weak from all the kryptonite Joker and Harley must be using to keep control over him or he’s starting to resist the lipstick.”  
  
“That can happen?”  
  
“Master Bruce was, uh, subjected to its effects a few times, he said the effect diminishes with every use and, judging by the amount of time and frequency in doses, Joker must be really struggling to maintain Master Clark under his command at this point.”  
  
“Why keep him alive then?” asked Victor, more to himself than the other men.  
  
“Vic!” squeaked Barry, very visibly paling at the prospect of the Joker killing Clark.  
  
“He’s exacted his revenge on Crane for taking his pray and Cobblepot for interfering but his true intention is to make Batman suffer, he knows the only way to get to him is hurting and torturing innocent people, especially those that are close to him and he wants Master Bruce to see when he breaks Superman, that’s the only thing stopping him from getting rid of Master Kent. We should hurry and find them, though, it won’t be long before he realizes he doesn’t have enough time to wait for Batman to return before Superman breaks out of his control and turns against him again.”  
  
“We need Diana back first, Arthur won’t be able to help us and we need all the hands we can get to face Superman, even weakened as he is.” Cyborg still remembered their encounter with a confused Clark at Heroes Park and shuddered at the prospect of facing him again. The man was just too powerful and the only reason they hadn’t been reduced to ashes that day was because of Batman’s plan. They didn’t have that ‘secret weapon’ now.  
  
“The antidote for the toxin is working much faster than we expected but even with that small advantage and his unusual physiology, it’ll take time for his nervous system to recover completely from the toxin’s effects.”  
  
“So we get Diana back and immediately start searching for Clark… I hope his mom is not too worried and that Bruce can help him with his job, his boss most have fired him five times by now,” commented Barry, making Victor wince, he’d completely forgotten about all that with all the chaos of the last weeks.  
  
“Not to worry, as far as Mr. White’s concerned, Mr. Kent is in a trip with Bruce Wayne covering a huge story for Wayne Enterprises and won’t come back in a while. Miss Lane has been informed as has Mrs. Kent. It was inevitable they both got word of Superman being in trouble but they both said that they trusted his friends to help him come back home safely.”  
  
Both Barry and Victor lowered their heads, feeling desperate and ready to run out of the cave right that moment to find Clark as soon as possible. They couldn’t be that reckless, they knew that, but it was hard hearing those words and not feeling helpless and scared of losing such a dear friend.  
  
“Look, Master Victor. It looks like the signal blocking properties of the tracker work,” said Alfred, interrupting their bitter thoughts. The little light representing Diana’s location had started blinking in a specific pattern, repeating over and over.  
  
“What…?”  
  
“It’s Morse code,” whispered Barry, eyes fixed on the screen “What?” he asked when he felt both Cyborg and Alfred staring at him, clearly shocked.  
  
“When did you learn Morse code?”  
  
“I had a few seconds while I ran to get some chāshāo,” replied the speedster, returning his gaze toward the screen, obviously translating the message.  
  
“You **would** learn Morse code while running all the way to China to buy food,” chuckled Victor, not that he’d had any problem in decoding the message but he still let the younger man do it.  
  
“Original is always best.” Barry shrugged then squinted and smiled brightly “*I’m here, I’m fine, I’m me* that’s what the message says.”  
  
“She knows it’s us,” said Victor, that constriction in his chest easing a bit more knowing their plan was working “Barry, we need to go now, we don’t know if Hatter will want to change location and we can’t leave her there any longer.”  
  
“Right,” said the younger man, starting to fidget in his place again, anxious about the confrontation surely to happen.  
  
“Diana? Diana, can you hear me?” he tried the communicator feature, waited a bit but there was no response and he started checking to see if it had been damaged or the function was deactivated.  
  
_“Victor? Is that you?”_ Diana’s voice sounded far away, as if she was trying to talk as quietly as possible.  
  
“Di! Are you alright? Hold on a bit longer, we’re coming to get you out of there!” Barry said in a rush, wanting to reassure her. A low growl made him freeze in his place.  
  
_“You can’t come!”_ she hissed and both young men stared at the monitor speechless.  
  
“What do you mean we can’t go? Hatter won’t brainwash us, we made sure of that,” replied Victor, guessing that was the reason for her harsh reaction.  
  
_“No! Stay on the comm, don’t come yet, Tetch mentioned Joker wanting to ‘talk’ to him earlier, that means he’ll bring Clark with him!”_ The three men gasped at the news.  
  
“You don’t know when he’s planning on meeting with Hatter?”  
  
_“Not yet, some of his henchmen commented something about receiving a letter from Joker to ‘talk about that marvelous technology he creates’ but that’s all I could hear before he left.”_  
  
God, this was too good to be true. Victor felt like something would go terribly wrong at any moment, their luck couldn’t be improving this much in such a short time.  
  
_“I can hear him coming! Stay on the comm!”_ then silence was the only thing filtering through the speakers until a door was opened and footsteps could be heard.  
  
_“Oh, dear Alice, I’m afraid we have no choice but to meet up with that awful man… never mind, I know you can protect me, my strong and beautiful Alice. He’ll come here the day after tomorrow to discuss some business or something. Tch, like he has anything I need, the insolent fool!”_  
  
“So that’s when we make our move,” said Victor, his voice determined, feeling a confidence that had left him since they’d lost Clark.  
  
“Di, are you sure you’ll be alright?” only the rambling of Mad Hatter could be heard coming from the other side of the line. Then a small whisper of ‘yes’ was all they knew they’d get from the princess who was now trying to act like a mindless doll so she could give them an opening to get their last remaining lost comrade back.  
  
“We’ll see you then, Di… take care, call us immediately if something goes wrong, alright?” Victor said, knowing he wouldn’t get a direct response but, seeing the little light blink again, knew she’d received the messaged and hoped their luck would hold out a little longer.


	7. JUSTICE LEAGUE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to my my absolutely amazing beta Serephent, I wouldn't have finished this without her and this thing would be even worse without her helpful insight and patient guidance. Thank you, Ser, you're the absolute best.

It had been a whole day and a half since they'd communicated properly with Diana. The only certainty they had that she was still lucid and in control, were the brief Morse code messages she would send randomly through her necklace.

News that Scarecrow was in the hospital, almost beaten to death after an encounter with Joker, and obviously Superman, was the only information they had of Clark. At least they knew he was still alive, though in what condition, they couldn't be sure.

"It's a peculiar thing," had commented Alfred when the newscaster was in the middle of the report. "By all means, Joker would've killed Scarecrow if he had the chance, but Crane is still alive."

"Maybe he felt generous? Maybe he wants to torture Crane, threaten him using Clark then just finish the job?" replied Victor, absentmindedly looking at the screen.

"That's not something the Joker does. Psychological torture and manipulation are more Crane's style."

"The man is completely bananas, who knows what he's planning?"

The butler only hummed and remained quiet for a long time. He stood up abruptly, making the young men near him jump in their seats.

"What the hell?"

"Master Barry."

"I'm sorry, but you scared me!"

"I apologize, but you'll have to excuse me. Call if you need anything." Turning around, he disappeared to only god knew where, most probably the cave.  
Barry and Victor looked at each other, puzzled by the butler's weird behavior.

"Maybe he left something in the oven?" Victor smiled at that.

“We’re in the kitchen, though… wait, maybe there’s another kitchen?”

"Nah, he just works for Bruce. I suppose 'losing a few marbles' is part of the requirements for this job."

"A few, you say," mumbled Barry under his breath, but Victor still chuckled at the comment then suddenly sat up straight on his seat.

"Oh god, is it contagious or something?"

"It's Diana," said Victor, his gaze unfocused like every time he interacted with the computers on the lower level of the house, and jumped to his feet, almost running to the cave with Barry right beside him. Alfred was at said computer already, all his attention directed toward the voice of the princess.

"Guys, can you hear me? They're here, you must get here right now, we won't have much time."

"We're on our way, Di, stay with us and tell us what's going on there."

"Remember our plan, Young Master Barry," said Alfred, easily getting their attention. "I hope Master Clark is weak enough for it to work without using more Kryptonite. I'd hate to have to cause him more pain, but you should still bring some with you, just in case."

Barry and Victor looked at each other, and Barry slid his hand in his pocket, clutching the ring Diana had given them tightly.

Both young heroes started their trip to Wonder Woman’s location, determined to save Superman and stop this madness at last.

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

"Why should I give you anything, Joker? You've got nothing I want."

"And here I thought we were good friends, Jerv. How about I don't kill you? I think that’s an excellent offer, you shouldn't pass on it!"

Diana had left the comm link in her necklace open, and the whole team could hear the discussion between both villains. They had just discovered Bruce had included cameras in all of them, accessible only if the one wearing the object activated it, and that's how they had visuals of the place and what was happening on Diana's side.

Clark looked terrible. The camera was small, but powerful enough to give them detailed images of the whole room, and as they focused on Clark, they all could see how much the prolonged exposure to the radiation had affected him.

“We can’t fail this time. He won’t survive another day with Joker,” said Victor, accelerating the Batmobile, while Barry ran on his right side.

“I’ll go first, see if I can get to Diana before they notice anything,” yelled Barry, trying to be heard over the sound of rushing air around him. He could see Cyborg nodding in the car without taking his eyes off the road.

“Be careful, this is still Joker we’re talking about,” he heard Alfred say when he had already reached the place and was crouching under a dirty window in the back alley of the building. He was glad that he was with them on the comm links, safe back at the cave.

Barry peeked through the window, but all he could see was an empty room that hadn’t been used in quite a while. Of course, that would have been too easy. He started making his way to the front door when Alfred interrupted him.

_“Master Barry, you should be more discreet, this is a delicate operation. You could always use the air ducts. There’s one right above your head that will bring you really close to the door of the room you need to reach.”_

“I'm not Batman, I can't move that silently! If I do that, I’ll surely give away my position, let them know I’m here. We need to do this quietly so that Joker and Tetch don’t have the time try anything,” whispered Barry, walking slowly towards the main entrance of the abandoned department complex they were currently at.

There were two armed men watching the place, but the truly difficult part would be the password locked door behind them.

“Vic, you gotta help me! Hatter upgraded the lock. I have no idea how to open the goddamned thing! Um, sorry, Alfred,” the speedster amended at the slight sound he could hear on the butler’s side.

_“Can you activate your camera so that I can see what we’re dealing with?”_

“Give me a sec,” he said, quickly capturing one of the guards, knocking him with a swift, but powerful movement courtesy of the Batman himself, and barely giving time for the other guy to notice his partner was missing before dispatching him too and doing what Cyborg had asked.

“Can you see it?” asked the speedster, taking the piercing off and angling it so Victor would have a clear view of the panel.

Barry could hear the high pitched voice of Harley talking to Superman, asking what was wrong. That made him grit his teeth in anger and his heart beat a bit faster. Like she didn’t know. He decided to ignore that sound in order to listen to what Victor had to say.

 _“Dammit, I was hoping it was something you could take care of on your own, but I’ll have to open it myself. Wait, I’m almost there,”_ groaned Victor in frustration, and Barry heard the roar of the motor on the other side of the comm link, deciding to hide as best as he could and wait for the reinforcements.

“…me! Get out of here, this is your last warning, Joker!” Hatter’s voice was full of anger, noticeable even through the comm link. Flash hoped they were still at the stage where they could wait for Cyborg to open the door instead of being forced to make one themselves.

 _“Master Barry, move!”_ the yell came almost at the same time Superman burst out of the building, wrapping his hand around the speedster’s neck. The hold was not as strong as the young hero had expected, and as he focused on the Kryptonian’s face, he could see his struggle, how he was fighting with everything in him to try, if not release him, at least keep himself from hurting him too much.

Diana flew out right behind Clark, followed by a shocked shout of ‘Alice!’, and quickly smashed her fist against his cheek, sending him flying to the other side of the deserted street and into the wall of an empty store. Clark jumped into the air the next second, launching himself toward the amazon, and they began trading powerful blows, making the remaining glasses on the windows vibrate with the force.

“What the hell’s going on there?” said Victor moments before the Batmobile came screeching down the street, stopping abruptly right in front of Joker and Tetch, who were now fighting over a strange metallic object.

“Vic! We gotta help Diana!” yelled Flash, right before running as fast as he could in such a confined space, colliding head on against Clark’s side, putting a stop to the barrage of punches he was raining on Wonder Woman. Barry ended up sprawled over the man of steel and he was somewhat grateful he was so weak, otherwise he would’ve seen him coming and Barry was sure the outcome would’ve been much worse for him.

Moments later, he was thrown to the side viciously, not even a second later Superman stood over him, still fighting his own body even when his fist was raised in the air with the clear intention to plaster him to the concrete below.

“That’s it! Show these bozos who’s the best spandex lover, Supes!” yelled Harley, when she had the time to spare after getting rid of a few of Hatter’s henchmen, then she ignored them once more when another wave of armed men came after her.

Inside what was left of the apartment that used to be Tetch’s hideout, Joker’s laugh could be heard while he tried to shoot at Hatter, who was hiding behind the ruined wall while more of his armed men tried to kill the clown.

Flash was still dizzy after slamming against Superman, said super hero throwing him moments after with so much force hadn’t helped at all. Even if the man had moved with him, he still had waited to the last possible moment and it had been like crashing into a titanium wall. Not that Barry knew what that felt like, but titanium was pretty hard, wasn’t it?

While he was trying to make himself remember the difference between up and down, Harley’s control had won and the powerful fist was about to punch a whole through his stomach when an energy blast sent him flying away from Barry, then Victor appeared where Clark had been standing and helped him get up. They quickly made their way to where Diana had just managed to dig herself out of the small crater Superman had punched her into.

“He’s really weak,” commented the princess, picking her shield up from where it had fallen in the rubble, and trying to clean a bit of the dust covering her hair and clothes.

“We’ll still need to attack together, at the same time or this won’t work.”

_“Remember our plan, Master Barry.”_

Alfred’s voice surprised the other two, and Barry touched his back, where Alfred had integrated a small pouch.

“What plan?” asked Diana, looking at Barry, who wanted to squirm under the intense gaze, but didn’t.

“Can you both distract him? Even as weak as he is, he could hear when I got rid of the guards and he’ll probably see me coming if I try to do it without help.”

“But what are you planning?” said Wonder Woman, a look that said ‘no working alone, you know that’ in her eyes.

“We’ll distract him, you focus on doing it exactly as we planned, alright?” said Victor, looking at Diana, who nodded after a moment, still a bit unconvinced but deciding to trust them. Then, without another word exchanged, both Wonder Woman and Cyborg launched themselves toward Clark, and attacked him, alternating their attacks so that his attention was never focused on just one of them.

Barry waited, looking for the perfect moment to do what he was supposed to and, finding it, he launched himself, the delicate looking, but sturdy syringe clutched tightly in his hand adorned with the Kryptonite ring. Clinging to Clark’s neck from behind, and with a quick movement, stabbed his chest with the sharp needle.

The extra radiation and weight, made Superman fall to his knees, and Barry pulled the syringe out, then stepped back a bit, waiting for it to take effect.

“Are you sure this will snap him out of it, Al?” asked the speedster, scared with every moment that passed with the Kryptonian remaining kneeling on the floor, and hoped he hadn’t killed him or just made him angrier.

 _“It was a concentrated version of the agent to combat Ivy’s spores. It should work, but it will take its toll, so you should get him out of there and bring him here as soon as you can,”_ was the reply. Barry could hear the man moving around, probably preparing everything to help Clark just like he’d done for Bruce, Arthur and Victor.

Clark’s breathing was ragged, and he started coughing violently until a mix of spit and blood splattered on the floor. That was Victor and Diana’s cue to quickly approach him and ask if he was alright.

“Di? Victor?” his weak voice asked while his eyes, bloodshot and shiny with unshed tears, looked to each known face with relief.

Barry took a deep, relieved breath, joining his friends as quickly as he could without accidentally using his powers.

“You’re safe now, Clark. We’ll get you out of here,” said Diana, caressing his cheek gently while she tried to lift him up, making her other teammates react and move, managing to get him to his feet.

What happened next was, in reality, not happening at high speeds, but was too much even for Flash’s brain to catch up.

Clark’s hand was around Victor’s neck, this time he didn’t hesitate to try and crush it under his fingers, but was interrupted when Diana tried to attack him. He caught her fist before it could connect, making him lose his interest in Cyborg, tossing him aside like a ragdoll, then returning the blow and sending her skidding almost to the end of the street.

Then he used his heat vision, and her bracelets were the only thing that prevented her to turn into a pile of ashes. He wasn’t holding back anymore.

“Alfred, what’s going on?! I think it made it worse. He’s actually trying to kill us this time!” yelled Barry, paralyzed with fear at the sight of his friend using his abilities to their fullest without hesitation. It was fortunate he was so weak, he would’ve killed them all if he’d been at full power.

 _“It’s not possible, Master Barry. It must be something else. That syringe should have started killing the spores as soon as it entered his blood stream. That’s why it needed to be applied directly to his heart. He should be spitting blood; the effect was much too strong for his body to endure in his condition.”_ Barry looked closely at Clark’s face and he could see the blood trickling slowly through his snarling lips. His perfect teeth stained crimson made him look even more terrifying.

“You’re the best, Mr. J!” squealed the blond, jumping in her place in joy while Joker laughed so hard Barry thought he would strain something. Strewn around them like leaves were the bodies of Hatter’s men, and right behind the clown, lay Tetch himself, dead or alive Barry couldn’t tell.

What before had been a completely deserted street was now crowded. Dozens of homeless people, drivers that had been passing nearby, Hatter’s men who’d just recovered from their encounter with Harley, all standing together to form a human wall protecting Joker, Harley and Superman.

On Joker’s forehead he could see the metallic object both men had been fighting over, and that’s when everything started to make a bit more sense.

“Oh, Bats will _love_ what I’m about to do with the place.”

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

Their situation couldn’t be worse, Barry was sure of it.

Joker had taken control over every person in a one mile radius. The good news was that they were in a pretty seedy part of the city, and that meant no crowds of people to turn into mindless slaves. The bad news was that there were a lot of homeless people, children among them, which had been hiding nearby, and the road not far away from the abandoned buildings had provided Joker with more victims. Luckily, the abandoned cars in the middle of the road, and the arrival of the GCPD to the scene, already having been informed and warned about what could happen to anyone that came too close to the scene, had helped barricade it, securing a perimeter, and no one else was likely to fall to Joker’s control.

He had tried to speed the ones who were affected away from the interface’s range, but Superman had made sure he failed miserably. They tried, in vain, to distract him while Barry tried again to get the people to safety, even Superman couldn’t be everywhere at the same time.

That’s when a not so distant explosion made time stop around them. Harley squealed happily, a detonator of some kind held in her right hand with her thumb pressing over one of several buttons was what had caused the explosion.

“No cheating, Just-us-League!” She snarled, swinging the remote in warning, freezing everyone’s blood for a few seconds.

“Where the hell did she get that?” Barry yelled into his comm link, his mind going into overdrive trying to figure out a way to separate both things from each other, and avoiding thinking about the victim count a blast of that magnitude could cause.

 _“It must have been one of the bombs Joker threatened Master Clark with, back when he was captured,”_ was Alfred’s reply.

“Right, I forgot,” sighed Barry, having completely forgotten Gordon informing them of their progress with the bombs.

They were unable to remove them immediately from the buildings they’d found them at, but Gordon had the foresight of evacuating them in case the clown tried to use them as leverage a second time. Of the seven bombs Joker had planted throughout the city, two had been detonated, with another three disarmed by the EOD in charge. That left them with another two, two too many in Barry’s opinion.

“What building was destroyed, Alfred? Were there any casualties?” Victor asked, while trying to avoid Clark’s fists.

_“I’m afraid there was a team at the site, they were trying to defuse the bomb when it went off.”_

Diana growled, her vision tinging red at the edges at the thought of more innocent lives lost at the hands of Joker and Harley, and her own inability to deal with the situation before it could happen. The deafening silence from the rest of the team let her know she was not the only one that felt the frustration.

Launching herself to try and reach Harley, she was abruptly stopped by Clark, again, prompting a hysterical laugh out of both criminals, though that was all Joker could do with the interface demanding so much from him.

It seriously couldn’t get worse than this.

_“Wait just a bit more, I’ll be right there.”_

Scratch that, it just got so, so much worse.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Growled Barry, head still spinning from the last punch Superman had managed to land right on his temple. He hoped what he’d just heard was just his eardrums playing tricks on him due to the pain.

 _“If I get near enough, I can use one of Batman’s sonic batarangs and probably disable that thing, at least interrupt the signal long enough to let you all stop Joker without distractions. I’m no Dark Knight but I’m fairly good, I know I can do it,”_ replied Alfred, sounding winded. He probably was preparing to leave the cave and go help them.

“No! Superman could hear Flash even though he used his super speed. You’ll get caught before you can get near enough!” Protested Cyborg, barely dodging Clark’s heat vision, unable to attack him after two young girls stood in front of him, their arms curled tightly around his body.

_“We must do something! You can barely counter attack and he’s being protected by those people! He’ll kill you all before he falls dead too! I can’t stand here and do nothing!”_

“Please, don’t come here!” Pleaded Diana, her feet cracking the pavement underneath her, shield vibrating under Superman’s fist. Thankfully her shield withstood the powerful blow, but she was not sure how long it would last at this rate. “You’ll just put yourself in danger!”

 _“I’m so sorry but I must do someth-”_ the other side of the comm links became deathly silent and everyone panicked.

“Al? Al, respond, Al!” Barry got so distracted trying to contact the old butler that he didn’t notice the four men approaching him until they were all throwing themselves over him, trying to subdue the speedster.

They would’ve succeeded had Diana not barreled through the crowd and kicked them off of him. Barry quickly jumped to his feet, kept moving as to not be pinned down again.

 _“I’m sorry, you’re right,”_ said Alfred finally and the three heroes sighed, relieved the man was alright. _“I would only get in your way, there’s no point in rushing in without a feasible plan.”_

“Don’t worry, Joker’s been bleeding through his nose ever since he started using the mind control…”

“Interface,” provided an exhausted Cyborg, failing once again to attack Clark before he could hide behind a group of children in ragged clothes. “Al’s right, we have to get rid of it now. Each attack leaves all of us worse, we’ll all fall at this rate.”

The sound of battle filled the silence that followed, each member of the League occupied with their personal group of mind-washed foes and the quick, dangerous surprise attacks of Superman.

“I have a plan,” Cyborg was the one to break said silence, “but you probably won’t like it.”

“Please don’t tell me it involves putting yourself at risk,” replied Diana through gritted teeth. Clark’s hands were holding her wrists, trying to move them away from her face, the intention to fry her brain through her eyes obvious.

“I said you wouldn’t like it,” Victor managed to land a blast on Superman’s cheek. It left a red spot that started swelling rapidly. It didn’t make him flinch, but it got his attention, and that gave Wonder Woman the opportunity to free herself and get away from the Kryptonian.

“And what does your plan involve?”

“I’ll take off my bracelet, put it on Clark’s wrist. Its range only covers one person, so trying to get near him will only weaken the interface’s signal slightly, but not enough to make a difference, so we need to cut him completely from its grip, and the only way of doing that is make him wear one of the tracking devices.”

“I’ll do it!” Diana sounded ready to take off the necklace and Victor would’ve laughed at the mental image of Clark wearing the delicate thing, were the situation not so dire.

“Neither you nor Barry can take off your trackers without joining Clark. I’ll program my systems to shut down right after I take it off so that I don’t fall under Joker’s mind control.”

“You’ll be vulnerable! I don’t think we can protect you if you fall in the middle of the crowd!” Diana didn’t like the plan, she knew it was too risky. Even if they could get to Clark, and manage to put the bracelet on his wrist, they couldn’t know if Joker would try to do something, endanger some lives to stop them.

“You know it’s the only way, Wonder Woman,” Victor’s tone was final, there was no hesitation or doubt.

“Fine but you must promise this will work.” Even if it may not, she couldn’t say out loud.

“Take this.” Barry took off the Kryptonite ring and gave it to Victor. “It’ll help you slow him down long enough to get the bracelet on.”

They prepared to take their last shot. Barry was ready to try and get all the civilians out of the way as much as possible, and Diana to be the center of everyone’s attention so Cyborg could attempt to approach Clark.

The princess launched herself as quickly as she could towards Superman, fists ready to make him forget anyone else was there while Barry moved people away from Clark, so they couldn’t think about interfering. Victor waited patiently for the opportunity, everything seemed to be going as planned. So far so good, they all thought.

“Didn’t you hear Harley? No cheating!” It was the first thing Joker had said since he took Tetch out. It was followed by loud laughter that made the heroes’ skin crawl.

Suddenly, Barry was being pressed against the metal door of a closed store, almost choking on his own blood. Clark had changed course midway toward Diana, and slammed against an unsuspecting Flash, his shoulder colliding right into the speedster’s stomach. Diana and Victor quickly moved, horror spurring them at the realization that Superman was about to kill Flash, and they were too far away to stop him in time.

“Superman, stop!” yelled Victor, already aiming, the Kryptonite ring embedded on his arm, its radiation mixing with his energy blast. Hopefully, it wouldn’t kill Clark, and it would be enough to leave him out cold.

Before he could fire, Clark staggered back, letting Barry crumple to the floor, knocked out. On his right arm, a batarang jutted out of the flesh, the eerie green glow ofKriptonite making it stand out in the dim sunlight.

“Bats! I thought you’d gotten tired of me!” Yelled Joker, wiping the blood off his upper lip. “You’re just in time to see me destroy your friends, and after that, Gotham!”

Even as they quickly made their way to help Barry, both Diana and Victor couldn’t help but stare at the tall, dark figure standing imposingly on the rooftop of the opposing building.

The Dark Knight said nothing, choosing to use his grapple gun to swing down in a wide arch, giving Joker no time to react. The clown was thrown several feet back, rolling like a ragdoll until the momentum was completely lost.

Before either psychopath could react, the dark figure drew the golden trident strapped to his back, brandishing the gleaming weapon, and making the nearby hydrant explode, the powerful stream of water moved in an unnatural arch towards them, almost drowning the pair in the process.

“You’re not Bats! You’re gonna pay for that!” growled Joker, livid with rage for the trick.

Superman, who had fallen to one knee, sprang up and quickly launched himself toward Batman. He was intercepted by Diana, both meta humans clashing again, this time Diana had the advantage. With Batman’s appearance, Joker’s control had weakened and the people who were acting as Clark’s shield stood in a daze without moving

“You’re right, I’m no Batman, but I’ll kick your ass just as hard!” The deep voice of Arthur came from behind the cowl, using his trident to punch the air out of Joker.

“No! It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” Joker roared after a few breathless moments, trying to make Superman knock Wonder Woman out so he could use him to destroy Batman. Arthur never gave him the chance, launching an electric charged batarang that fried the interface, making Joker scream in agony.

“No, Mr. J!” screeched Harley, throwing the remote control in her haste to help the maniac. She was quickly rendered unconscious by a snarling Diana, clearly disgusted and more than done with the deranged woman. The amazon princess made her way towards Clark, helping the weak hero stand up, followed by Cyborg.

“Where… is Bats?” choked out Joker, visibly affected by the artifact having practically electrocuted him, but still fighting to sit up, to keep talking.

“It’s over, Joker,” said Arthur, pointing his weapon directly toward his already damaged head. “We’ll hand you over to Gordon and you better stay in Arkham this time, or you’ll have the whole Justice League on your trail.”

Joker laughed, his gaunt body shaking with the force of it.

“And you’ll send Supermoron after me? What’s he gonna do, play brainwashed hero with me again? Now _that_ is a good joke, if I ever heard one.” A little giggle at the back of his throat suddenly exploded into one of those chilling laughs, jarring into everyone’s nerves.

Arthur growled and, throwing the whole of his body weight into the movement, kicked the clown, shutting him up for good.

“Don’t you dare touch my friends again, you sack of shit,” spat the Atlantean with all the venom he could muster, then fell to his knees, exhausted. Victor was at his side the next second.

“You’re not fully recovered! What the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving your asses, apparently,” groaned the man, leaning on the younger man for support once he was on his feet again.

“We should bring Joker and Harley to Comm-“

“No need for that,” interrupted Gordon, a small army of both cops and Arkham security flooding the place, closely followed by paramedics and firefighters that had arrived to help the unconscious people on the ground.

“Will the people be alright?” asked Diana, barely keeping herself from grimacing, knowing that they’d hurt some of them.

“Physically? Absolutely. There seems to only be small scratches and bruises, no broken bones or head trauma from what little we can tell, though we can’t say for sure until we make more tests on these people.”

“Will they be alright after what Joker did to them?” asked Victor, reaching the medical team with Arthur walking slowly beside him. Alfred had pleaded for him to maintain the stoic pose the Batman always had, at least until they were out of sight and, even though Aquaman was struggling to stay standing, he did as he was asked.

“I wish I could say this is will be a once in a lifetime experience for these people but… this is Gotham. Something like this happens every other week. It’ll be hard for a few days but, well, we’re used to this.” A rough smile formed in the man’s lips after the words left his mouth. “Come here, you all need medical attention.”

 _“No need for that. You should come back to the cave as soon as possible. Master Clark’s condition is critical. As it is, we must not waste any more time,”_ urged Alfred on their comms and they all nodded in agreement.

“Sorry, we should leave. We’ll take care of that, if you don’t mind,” answered Diana, lifting Clark’s body from the ground and draping him on her back. “We’ll come back here as soon as we can to help with the clean-up.”

“Don’t worry yourselves with that,” Commissioner Gordon interjected again, having been distracted by one of his officers before. “The Wayne foundation created a specialized team to take care of this mess. After Black Zero back in Metropolis, Mr. Wayne decided the city should be prepared for another disaster, so you should just go home and rest, we’ll take care of the rest.”

The members of the League still standing all huffed at the news. Of course Bruce would think of this, would have a contingency plan in case he couldn’t protect his city from property damage.

“How did you get here?” asked Victor after picking Flash up from where he and Diana had dragged him to. Arthur, who was trying his best not to lean on him, looked at him tiredly.

“Alfred brought me here. You guys must have done a great job distracting Supes, he never saw me coming and we weren't exactly silent. Now I know where Batman learned to drive.”

“Alfred’s here?!” both Diana and Victor half yelled. “Why did you bring him here? It was dangerous!”

 _“I think Alfred can make his own decisions and decided not to let Master Arthur come here without him,”_ the voice in their comms replied with a slightly offended tone. _“Now, please, come to the ambulance that’s parked behind the building you’re standing in front of, and Master Victor, please don’t forget to bring the Batmobile with you.”_

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

Once in the manor, Alfred made Arthur go back to bed, and shushed Diana to go take a bath, making her smile fondly.

Barry and Clark were the worst of the group, both remained out cold for a few more hours. Their healing factors kicking in and helping them recover much faster than a normal human could ever hope, but not without Clark needing a few solar lamps helping his system recuperate from such a prolonged exposure to the green K.

By midday of the next day, the whole group was in Bruce’s bedroom, watching a movie thanks to Cyborg acting as a projector and eating popcorn that Alfred kindly offered to prepare, the only condition was that they all should eat real food first.

“Barry, you should go back to your bed, you’re falling asleep. Here, let me help you,” said Diana, getting up from her place on the bed and offering her hand.

The young man looked at her, the deep dark rings around his eyes almost gone but still visible, and just burrowed further on Bruce’s side.

“I wanna stay here,” he mumbled, already closing his eyes without making an attempt to move.

“Come on, you can’t stay there.”

“Why not?” Clark asked, lying on Bruce’s right side, imitating Flash and getting comfortable too. “The bed’s big enough. I don’t think he’ll mind, anyway.”

Diana looked helplessly at Alfred, who just smiled gently and nodded. She scoffed softly and gave up, going back to her place on the bed besides Barry and draping herself over his back, closing her eyes.

Honestly, she didn’t want to leave the bedroom, either. She had her own room too, but, at least for today, she wanted to be near her teammates, her friends, knowing that they were all safe, if not completely sound.

She felt the bed move and opened one eye to see Victor climbing in right beside Clark, plastering his back to the Kryptonian’s. He kept the movie projecting, even though it was clear he was already half asleep. He was followed by Arthur, who carefully lifted his own bed that was still in the room, and moved it as close as possible to Bruce’s, then climbed up and burrowed under the blankets.

“Good night,” whispered Alfred, turning the lights off and closing the door behind him, the only illumination that of the movie.

 

 

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

 

 

Bruce was awake.

His body felt tired and heavy, like he’d been hit by a truck, and he actually knew what that felt like. He tried to move, go and ask Alfred what in the world had happened, when it all came rushing back to him.

‘Crane!’ he thought, almost panicky. How long had he been out? Was his city still standing without the Bat to protect it? He was about to get up and get some answers when he registered two arms thrown over his waist, coming from both his sides.

Had it all been a dream? Had he hallucinated it all and this was just another night of models for Bruce Wayne? The thick, muscular arm from his right side, and the much thinner, but still very much male arm, coming from his left side made his theory unfeasible.

He slowly lifted his head and look at both sides of his bed. Said bed was occupied by the whole Justice League, save Aquaman, who had one of his own, although it was still joined to Bruce’s.

He took a bit more careful look at his teammates, at their serene faces, and relaxed positions. They all looked terrible. He felt frustration well up quickly because he knew something had gone horribly wrong, and that it had happened because they hadn’t _listened_ to a word he’d said.

He let his head fall back to the pillow, his neck unable to hold the position any longer, and he just sighed. He wasn’t up to this right now, and feeling both Barry and Clark hug him tighter in their sleep, all the frustration and worry drained almost completely out of him.

Bruce closed his eyes, deciding that this could wait a bit more, feeling the tiredness return and drag him back to sleep. He’d deal with this- whatever _this_ was- in the morning.


End file.
